Come on Felipe!

[Alonsomaniac]

If there is one thing that worried me a little this weekend it is that Felipe seemed to continue what he did last year and that is staying too far behind Fernando.
Felipe seems to me a very likeable person and I really want to see him close that gap.
He belongs at Ferrari and I want him to stay there for many more years.
I'm not saying he has to beat my favorite driver of course but if Fernando qualifies 3rd Felipe should at least be 4th and not 7th or 8th.
The same goes for the races. Today Felipe had a much better start and easily passed Fernando.
And still somehow somewhere during the race he lost out again on Fernando - and too much......
I don't know why this happens because we all know Felipe can be blindingly fast.
So instead of critisizing him I think we as fans should support him and encourage him a little more than we do at the moment.
He needs our support more than Fernando now and remember: if Felipe gets better, the team gets better!
Or am I just being a little too sentimental??

[SanderV]

I agree with you, I have to admit I was a bit frustrated with Massa yesterday and today. His defensive driving against Button was very good though. I really hope he can close the gap to Alonso. I think Alonso is the best driver in F1 today, but the gap with Massa is too big. Nevertheless I think we should wait a few races before judging Massa's form.

[Greig]

It's such a non-issue until Alonso is winning regulary and Felipe is 5th and below IMO

Ferrari need to give our drivers a race winning car before we can start to blame the driver, that's how I feel anyway.

[Grillo]

First race of the season, we need another 2 or 3 to have a better picture for both the car and drivers.

[Forzi]

I'd say the most of the gap was made by bad tactical decisions to stay too long with bad tires. Looked like the plan was a two stops, but defending off Button had it's price in the end. And overal, Australia isn't a place that Felipe ever was lucky. Besides last years 3th place thanks to great tactics, he never finished higher than 6-7th here. We need him back to form again, and today we saw something we didn't see the past season - aggressive defence. I say we should give him a lil more time, since trying to say anything after the first race of the season is nothing more than nonsence. Same might go for the Ferrari form. History shows, that everything can come around after a week or two.

[ferrari4life]

It's such a non-issue until Alonso is winning regulary and Felipe is 5th and below IMO

Ferrari need to give our drivers a race winning car before we can start to blame the driver, that's how I feel anyway.

completely agree...

[ferrari4life]

I'd say the most of the gap was made by bad tactical decisions to stay too long with bad tires. Looked like the plan was a two stops, but defending off Button had it's price in the end. And overal, Australia isn't a place that Felipe ever was lucky. Besides last years 3th place thanks to great tactics, he never finished higher than 6-7th here. We need him back to form again, and today we saw something we didn't see the past season - aggressive defence. I say we should give him a lil more time, since trying to say anything after the first race of the season is nothing more that nonsence. Same might go for the Ferrari form. History shows, that everything can come around after a week or two.

Button was a lot faster in that car. what Massa was doing to hold him back was very "Alonsoesque.."

[REDARMYSOJA]

And overal, Australia isn't a place that Felipe ever was lucky.

Very true. Felipe will just have to pick his battles. There will be tracks like Albert Park where he isn't good, and he'll have to just get from it what he can. There will be tracks that favor him, Bahrain was one, I think he would have done well there.

I say we should give him a lil more time, since trying to say anything after the first race of the season is nothing more that nonsence.

Some people have said Felipe should be out at Ferrari since the very first race he sat in the car. Weekends like this just make them think they are right. Felipe showed some fight yesterday, and I expect to see more of it as the season continues.

[LeonKennedy]

I think all the criticism Massa is getting is not fair, after all, who else is there to replace him right now? Hamilton not for obvious reasons, Vettel has contract with RBR, Kubica is in the hospital... do you think there's anyone left better than Massa?

After all, Massa is paired to (IMO) the current best driver there is, and we know Alonso doesn't have to have the best car to deliever. Once Ferrari builds a good car, Massa will be there. Ferrari doesn't have to risk it and put one of these youths (Bianchi, ...) as they can be really good, but can also be really bad, and that would hurt not only Ferrari's image but also Ferrari's WCC chances...

btw: if Kubica does come back at 100%, of course I'd want him at Ferrari ;)

[Grillo]

I think all the criticism Massa is getting is not fair, after all, who else is there to replace him right now? Hamilton not for obvious reasons, Vettel has contract with RBR, Kubica is in the hospital... do you think there's anyone left better than Massa?

That's a difficult question for the 27th of March. Let's wait till Monza in September and we'll see.

[Ferrari Man]

Massa deserves al the support he can get ... Every driver has a bad weekend. Massa had a bad year last year and it looks like nothing has changed but don't judge too early.. If there is not improvement in Massa in four or five races then there should be tough decisions made... For now tho... Forza Felipe.........

[racingbradley]

It's such a non-issue until Alonso is winning regulary and Felipe is 5th and below IMO

Ferrari need to give our drivers a race winning car before we can start to blame the driver, that's how I feel anyway.

+1

[ruud king]

I think Massa will be driving his nuts of this year or there will be a vacant seat in the 2e Ferrari next year, he showed this GP that he is willing to fight (just look at the side by side action with Jenson) and wont give up his place on or off the track.
Lets just wait and see how this season works out for our Felipe, after all he lost the WC to Lewis with just 1 point.....(if i have that right....)

[Mrs.Domenicali]

Personally I think we need to be worrying about the car right now, not the drivers. It has been clear all weekend the car is struggling for grip and struggling with the tyres especially in qualy trim, Ferrari need to concentrate on sorting that out so we can catch up with Red Bull and McLaren. I think Massa did really well today he defended fantastically, and what let him down was the strategy and the problems with the tyres IMHO.

[Nova]

What little I could gather from testing was that Massa liked the car...what changed? Ferrari def needs to sort the car out..
mabey bring forward some new or better ideas, but last year we saw them fight back..as much as I would have liked
to see them at the front in Oz, that didnt happen, so we have to fight back again. The car def needs something. If Massa felt in testing that the car
and tires were good, and he did some good times, then I have every reason to believe he will get it right this year.
So he has my support all the way. I think Malaysia will be better.

[Grinsomx]

Personally I think we need to be worrying about the car right now, not the drivers. It has been clear all weekend the car is struggling for grip and struggling with the tyres especially in qualy trim, Ferrari need to concentrate on sorting that out so we can catch up with Red Bull and McLaren. I think Massa did really well today he defended fantastically, and what let him down was the strategy and the problems with the tyres IMHO.

+1

[Corey]

Why is everyone using the same avatar?

[Anni]

I don´t think Alonsomaniac created this thread to start a discussion about Felipe´s performance, i guess the intention was to create a Forza-thread for Felipe, like the one we had last year.

Forza Felipe!!!!GoGoGoGoGoGo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NJB13]

Forza Felipe. All things considered you have a good race.

[Kingdom Hearts]

Felipe was doing very well till Button passed him, he deserves some support for that. He will do better in the next race.

[alex1s]

Looking at Massa's defensing driving I was gladly supriced to see him fight for it. I hope he keeps that throughout the year and not just in the first races. He does tent to give up easily towards the end of the year when he realises that he is not fighting for the championship.

[Stormsearcher]

I think all the criticism Massa is getting is not fair, after all, who else is there to replace him right now? Hamilton not for obvious reasons, Vettel has contract with RBR, Kubica is in the hospital... do you think there's anyone left better than Massa?

After all, Massa is paired to (IMO) the current best driver there is, and we know Alonso doesn't have to have the best car to deliever. Once Ferrari builds a good car, Massa will be there. Ferrari doesn't have to risk it and put one of these youths (Bianchi, ...) as they can be really good, but can also be really bad, and that would hurt not only Ferrari's image but also Ferrari's WCC chances...

btw: if Kubica does come back at 100%, of course I'd want him at Ferrari ;)

I have a feeling that if Massa would be replaced next year (just a thought here).. then i think Petrov will be the one who will replace him.

[DanielM]

I have a feeling that if Massa would be replaced next year (just a thought here).. then i think Petrov will be the one who will replace him.

Seriously lol. Ferrari are smart enough to know there isnt a driver currently available that will do any better than Massa vs Alonso, so I dont think they will replace him, just the way Fisichella wasnt replaced by Flavio in the mid 00s, he even said there was no better option. Massa is a strong driver he has proved that in recent years, his problem is that Alonso is exceptional. Once felipe accepts that, and stops over driving, his performances will improve. Eddie Irvine was smart, he knew Michael was too good and just accepted it, and did a pretty decent job, so did Rubens eventually.

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

I have a feeling that if Massa would be replaced next year (just a thought here).. then i think Petrov will be the one who will replace him.

hahahahahaha you are joking right??? Theres more chance of Perez being here than Petrov

[Greig]

Yes Massa should just roll over and accept Alonso is just too good, what a comment to make LOL no surprise it comes from a rabid Alonso fanboy....

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

Yes Massa should just roll over and accept Alonso is just too good, what a comment to make LOL no surprise it comes from a rabid Alonso fanboy....

[sv_godspeed]

look at how rapidly he fell off after he was passed and before he went into the pits. that shows how much faster Button (and Alonso, remember he was behind them at the time) was but still Felipe pretty controlled his pace and you could see that Button was quite desperate to pass and not just trying heartedly.
i say that this was a positive start for Felipe showing some fire that we didn't see before but in fact, disappointing start for Fernando ...

[DanielM]

Yes Massa should just roll over and accept Alonso is just too good, what a comment to make LOL no surprise it comes from a rabid Alonso fanboy....

Its called being a realist.

[Tifosi]

Its called being a realist.

It's called being a Fredifosi

[Greig]

Its called being a realist.

As well as the voice of reason?

So explain to us how Massa is over-driving, where has this happened, some evidence please.

Maybe that's what happened to Alonso at McLaren, he was over-driving?