[Driver] Felipe Massa's wildly varying performances

[Born Racer]

How can it be that suddenly here is an Alonso-beater? (At least he's outqualified him 3 races in a row now, outraced him in Interlagos and is generally at least respectably close at the finish).

He suddenly found "something" at a certain point last year. I don't remember him mentioning set-up issues and finding that magic something. I just don't get how he completely turned around his form. I mean he went from being comparatively crap (comparatively both with Alonso and his own performances from the past) to challenging one of the best drivers in the sport (I believe there's a thread for that if you want to debate it ).

I know there's a thin line between such success and failure, but he's found a lot of time.

Is it mojo, handling or something suspicious (got to throw in a conspiracy theory)?

[wolfhound]

It seems like Feilpe has suddenly refound his mojo in the later half of last season. Its as if he turned a corner and everything fell into place for him.

What I hope to find more interesting is how the driver on the other side of the Ferrari garage will react to Feilpe being consistantly faster. We have seen Alonso throw all the toys out of the pram in the past when a team mate proved faster than him.

[Knowlesy]

Another driver bashing thread.

Pretty sure Massa has had a better F1 career than you Born Racer.



I think it is a combination of things. He seems happier with the car but, undoubtedly, he seems to have cleared a psychological hurdle which he has laboured under since his return in 2010. He seems a different person, not just a different driver. I can't quite put my finger on it but he seems more relaxed. What could it be? He has got over the accident and gained confidence? Accepted Alonso will have the measure of him and simply relaxed and focussed on doing the best he can for himself? Who knows. But it is great to have him back. He is driving beautifully.

[p-matt]

An Alonso beater? Maybe on a single lap but Alonso's more than had the measure of him in race trim.

[frostie]

It's interesting to look at Felipe's performances over the last couple of years. Until the British GP last year he was really struggling and rightfully there were lots of calls for him to lose his drive but from Silverstone onward he started to improve, and quite dramatically as you say Born Racer!

Looking at his pace in the last few races-outracing Alonso in Brazil and outqualifying him in each-and it's very easy to question why he's suddenly a world beater but it's worth remembering just how complete a driver that Massa was in 2007-2009. He was a terrific qualifier and a very good racer.

When he was compared to Raikkonen as teammates he wasnt overshadowed in any way and was probably the better driver during the course of their 2.5 seasons. He could easily have won the title in 2008 and at that stage of his career it seemed that he was on the cusp of moving into the discussions as one of the top drivers on the grid.

He had his accident in Hungary and it's very easy to say that this was the turning point, apologies for the pun!, of his career. He was clearly shuck by the accident and understandably so. He came back at the start of 2010 and instead of having his team at Ferrari Alonso was making himself very comfortable and the centre of attention.

Being the focal point is, for my money at least, Fernando's best trait and where he has the biggest advantage over his rivals. He is superb at making Ferrari (and Renault before) work to his whims. Massa on the other hand has always been overshadowed by his teammates, at least in terms of stature and reputation.

He was however very confident of being able to learn from Schumi and then to beat Raikkonen. When he came back from his accident however he needed to recover both his race fitness but also his standing within Ferrari. Whereas Kimi approach of "give me a car and I'll race it but don't expect me to be in the factory til all hours..." allowed Massa to become the central driver for development and build relationships with at the factor suddenly he came back in 2010 to be a teammate to a driver who does work very hard at making sure all the relationships that are key to winning are maintained.

Felipe in other words went from being a key to Ferrari's development and success to being a number 2. It had to have hit him very hard and when you combine that with the scar tissue from his Hungarian accident and it's easy to see why 2010 was a write off for him. 2011 however is a bit less clear. Fernando was able to easily outperform him throughout the year.

Last year was going much the same until Silverstone when Felipe made a step forward, albeit still quite a bit slower than Alonso. Over the remaining races of the year however he did improve by seasons end he was much more impressive.

Over the winter he said that one of the key things for him was that he relaxed in those end of season races. He stopped focusing on what Fernando was doing and instead focused on what he could do to improve the car and his performances. Without fixating on Alonso he suddenly improved because he was concentrating on what he wanted to do.

This new approach served him well at the end of the season and it seems to be serving him well now.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by p-matt

An Alonso beater? Maybe on a single lap but Alonso's more than had the measure of him in race trim.

I would hardly call what happened in Melbourne fair, to be honest.

You have to raise some serious questions as to why Massa was suddenly put on a funny strategy when he was ahead of their boy.

I'm not bashing Alonso, I like him. I just think it's pretty crappy on Ferrari's part given how it's the first race, but I guess it's known as 'protecting your investment'.

Selby

[Bononi]

Yes, he found his mojo last year at Pantanal.

[b1ackcr0w]

TBH, I don't think I agree with the basic premise of the thread. Up until his accident, which darn near killed him, he was rightfully seen as a serious championship contender. The "Fernando is faster than you" episode and dodgems with Hamilton really did set his recovery back. But underneath that, there's a guy who's missed a world championship by a one lap fluke. It's just taken some time to get his mojo back.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

I would hardly call what happened in Melbourne fair, to be honest.

You have to raise some serious questions as to why Massa was suddenly put on a funny strategy when he was ahead of their boy.

I'm not bashing Alonso, I like him. I just think it's pretty crappy on Ferrari's part given how it's the first race, but I guess it's known as 'protecting your investment'.

Selby

I was having a chat about this last night and it was decided that Massa has to be the one to instigate the strategy. Fernando would have no qualms about calling the shots (and look at that move on Massa in the pitlane in Sepang in one of their early races as team-mates).

If (and it is an 'if to my knowledge) Massa wanted to pit in Melbourne, he should have said "I'm coming in.. FOR SURE".

It's the kind of driving that I like to feel I would do in his position. Likewise, look at Perez not making the obvious call to McLaren to go back on inters. I would've prided myself on making the call, like Jenson regularly does.

Talking of me being an F1 driver:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Another driver bashing thread.

Pretty sure Massa has had a better F1 career than you Born Racer.

I guess I am not worthy of a drive.

[Bononi]

What happened in Melbourne or his lack of input/decision might be related to what was written in his renewed contract...

[Born Racer]

Any knowledge on that Bononi, or a hunch?

[luke g28]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Any knowledge on that Bononi, or a hunch?

I was going to voice the same sentiment, the timing of Massa's improved form would appear to tie in with a contract renewal. Of course there might not be any link at all.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Any knowledge on that Bononi, or a hunch?

Let's say it's a knowledgeable hunch...

[Malfunction Junction]

In 2009, Massa had a massive, life threatening head injury.

His skeletal and soft tissue injuries healed over the months following, but something that is often misunderstood is recovery from brain injuries.

Richard Hammond hosted a program on Stirling Moss and their shared experience in recovery from major trauma to their brains.

Moss waited a year until he drove and decided he couldn't do it. He mentioned that Sid Watkins told him Sid wouldn't have let him drive for a minimum of two years after his accident and possibly longer. Hammond related that when he reappeared on television months after his own accident, he wasn't himself and indeed had no memory of the few months after he returned to his regular programs.

Recovery from major brain trauma is slow, if not the slowest type of injury from which any part of the body fully recovers. It's not uncommon to regain say 95% of brain function in a similar time to other injuries, but the last 5%, the bit that separates F1 drivers from the rest of us, can take a long time. From my own experience of brain injury three years to fully recover isn't surprising and others I have known have been similar.

Massa's performances returned to their previous level about 3 years after his accident. Something that I don't find a coincidence.

I have to admit I didn't rate Massa prior to 2008 but I'm impressed that he's made the jump back to his former self. I'm also very pleased that Ferrari showed enough faith and compassion to enable him to regain his place until he recovered.

[Bononi]

So he's back, let's see what unfolds.

[Massa_number1]

massa says himself he is much more comfortable in this years car clearly he doesnt have the ability like alonso to adapt his style to work around a car with problems

look at massa racing in turkey, brazil ect when he hits a sweet spot with certain things be it set up,tyres or track layout he is very fast but where he falls short to drivers like hamilton and alonso is he cannot get that extra tenth out of a bad car

at this point he is really suited to the car and tyres and is getting the maximum out of it but as the season goes on im sure we will see him at some races lagging a fair bit behind alonso where as alonso even on a bad day will be right behind massa

[formerf1champ]

Just like to express my disgust at any support for Massa (on this or other threads). A typical quote "People forget how good he was before his accident..." No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooo! People don't forget how good he was (i.e. He wasn't that good).

The supposed "beating" of Raikkonen had more to do with Raikkonen being stuck in his own ways and not communicating with the team better. That's alright when you're winning, but when you're not getting the most out of the car, it puts the team off supporting you. Ferrari favoured Massa fo a while and once he was of of the equation with his accident in Hungary, Raikkonen immediately produced good results, and even won. I'd like to point out that communication with the team is something that is done off-track and has nothing to do with driving.

2008? It would've have immediately diluted the value of the F1 title for the rest of time if Massa had won it. It also shows how much has to align for Massa to win a title. He has to have one the better cars, even the best at some tracks, and he has to be on form in what is the worst season of F1 since I've followed it (1990), in terms of the standard of driving of the frontrunners. To point out how **** it was, Raikkonen (who was definitely **** for 90% of '08) was a massive chance for the title til a couple of races left!

Massa is a massive soft**** who fills his daks when things get hard on the track. He's a frontrunner. He's had it easy for most of his career. He's ****.

[GT6]

A good race from Massa.

[Knowlesy]

Solid stuff indeed.

[Marbot]

Massa was excellent. Button was also surprisingly quick!

[formerf1champ]

After the start, he had no presence in the race.

[Bononi]

So there it is, Ferrari.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

After the start, he had no presence in the race.

Who?

Alonso?





Perfectly decent race from Massa today.

[chunterer]

For me it's a combo of things. Firstly, he's got his head back in gear. Secondly, the team have quite possibly tried todesign something that suits both drivers, or at least put him in the sim for day after day so he gets the tyres more easily.

What I don't buy for a second is that he's suddenly come back from being rubbish. That was an entirely false image of him.

[Bononi]

It's all in his head really.