Lighthouse Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I never got how Massa ended up in a Ferrari at all really. Maybe its a South American marketing thing. He started his career being fairly average in a Sauber, then joined Ferrari and spent several years getting soundly beaten by Schumacher, Raikkonen and Alonso. The only time he has ever stood out was the second half of '08, and that's mainly because Ferrari had the best car and Kimi really didn't look interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I think Massa signed a long term contract after he was a test driver and he did look quite good when team-mates with Schumacher. He was close to Schuey's pace most of the year despite not being allowed to race him and being in an inferior car. He has gradually faded though, it baffled me when Ferrari signed him until 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I never got how Massa ended up in a Ferrari at all really. Maybe its a South American marketing thing. He started his career being fairly average in a Sauber, then joined Ferrari and spent several years getting soundly beaten by Schumacher, Raikkonen and Alonso. The only time he has ever stood out was the second half of '08, and that's mainly because Ferrari had the best car and Kimi really didn't look interested. He spent a year as Ferrari's test driver after leaving Sauber. His development work and rapport with Schumacher must have worked in his favour. After Barrichello became jumpy giving the seat to a definitive no 2 must have been a very attractive prospect for them. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss him though, before Hungary 2009 he had shown some excellent pace at certain tracks, particularly Turkey and Bahrain. As for only coming to the fore at the end of 2008, he was winning races consitently through the year, he really deserved his crack at the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 Maybe Massa has never fully recovered from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAbQLkgbFeA&feature=related If it had happened to me I am sure that I wouldn't be so enthusiastic as I had once been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 Maybe Massa has never fully recovered from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAbQLkgbFeA&feature=related If it had happened to me I am sure that I wouldn't be so enthusiastic as I had once been Crashes like that can change drivers. Karl Wendlinger was never the same after his massive shunt at Manaco in 1994, it was an accident with many parrallel's to Sergio Perez's a couple of weeks ago, only he came off much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I know "he only won because he had the best car" is a bit of a cliche, but that's all I've ever seen Massa do. In '08 he had the best car, and Raikkonen was ahead of him until about 7 races to go I think. I'm struggling to think of a truly great Massa drive. Button - Canada '11, Brazil '09 Hamilton - Britain '08, Japan '07 Alonso - Imola '05, Korea '10 Raikkonen - Japan '05, Belgium '09 Vettel - Monza '08, China '09 I'm sure you could go through about half a dosen examples for most of the top drivers in recent times, but I'm really struggling when it comes to Massa. A good driver and well worth a few victories, but not really a WDC quality driver. A bit like Coulthard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 (edited) I take your point that he seemingly hasn't had any performances that have been stellar entertainment, but his debut win where he comprehensively out qualified, out raced and defeated Michael Schumacher, in identical equipment at Turkey 2006 was outstanding. Simply dissmissing a win because it is in the best car at the time would be a little shortsighted for me, for example, Button's win at Barcelona in 2009 stands out as a simply brilliant win, the fact the Brawn was ahead of it's class at the time is simply incidental, that drive was outstanding. Edited 15 June, 2011 by Colinjb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I take your point that he seemingly hasn't had any performances that have been stellar entertainment, but his debut win where he comprehensively out qualified, out raced and defeated Michael Schumacher, in identical equipment at Turkey 2006 was outstanding. Simply dissmissing a win because it is in the best car at the time would be a little shortsighted for me, for example, Button's win at Barcelona in 2009 stands out as a simply brilliant win, the fact the Brawn was ahead of it's class at the time is simply incidental, that drive was outstanding. I very much doubt he had identical equipment to Schumacher, which makes it all the more outstanding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 15 June, 2011 Share Posted 15 June, 2011 I very much doubt he had identical equipment to Schumacher, which makes it all the more outstanding A very good point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted 20 June, 2011 Share Posted 20 June, 2011 Mental weekend, that was. Got freaking soaked. So, so worth it though. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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