Same Vettel also said Ferrari has the best car....
http://thef1times.com/the-paddock/display/06839
Has Felipe Massa really improved?
Wednesday 10th October 2012, 17:45 by Daniel Chalmers
There are strong indications that Felipe Massa is going to be keeping his drive next year, and by the time you read this it may already have been announced.
Looking at his results over the last few races there is a perception that he has improved massively lately. However when you look back at previous events in more detail, I don’t think he has made as much of a step forward as many think he has. I am still of the opinion that Ferrari need to change their second driver.
His better run of form started back in Spa so that’s where we are going to start. In that race he failed to reach Q3 and qualified all the way down in 14th. In the race he drove well to fight back to fifth position.
However he benefited enormously from the turn one accident. In that pile up Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton all ended up in retirement. Kamui Kobayashi managed to have his damage repaired but lost a lot of ground. Pastor Maldonado retired from the race on lap four.
Without the collision I would have put money on at least five of those drivers finishing ahead of Massa. I think instead of fifth place, Felipe probably would have only just made it into the top 10 and a points paying position.
In Italy, Massa qualified in a very respectable third position. However part of the reason for that is Ferrari were simply awesome that weekend. Alonso would very likely have been on pole had it not been for a technical issue on the car in Q3. He was sure he could have gone half a second quicker than Hamilton’s pole time, and it's hard to take issue with him. Even Lewis was shocked his time was good enough for pole.
Ferrari was fast enough to beat McLaren for race victory. What Ferrari really needed Massa to do was to stop Lewis Hamilton from scoring the full 25 points. However as the race went on his pace dropped off. Alonso came back from tenth place to get himself into a position, where Felipe had to let him through.
In Singapore it’s true to say that Felipe produced a very spirited drive to fight back to eighth place after a first lap puncture. However the truth of the matter is he had another bad qualifying failing to reach Q3 again, starting down in 13th. When you are in that danger zone in the midfield, you run the risk of getting a puncture or losing part of your bodywork.
Then we go to Suzuka where Massa got his strongest result since the Korean GP back in 2010, finishing second. However again he failed to reach Q3 in Japan. The podium in the race had an element of fortune like his fifth place back in Spa.
The start was very messy. Firstly there was the contact between Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen on the run down to turn one. Then Grosjean hit the rear of Mark Webber’s car putting him into spin ensuring all hell broke loose.
Felipe managed to avoid the incidents and used the chaos to help him emerge from scene in fourth place. To be fair he did then earn second place on merit by leapfrogging Kobayashi and Button during the race.
However had everyone behaved themselves at the start he wouldn’t have been able to make up so many places on lap one. Therefore I think without benefiting from the lap one chaos, he would have struggled to make it anywhere near the podium.
There is an argument that in actual fact there has only been a few tenths between Felipe and Fernando at times in 2012. Go back to a year where the grid was more spread out, and chances are the pair would have nearer to each other on the grid more regularly
However this is 2012 and the fact of the matter is its mighty close. As a driver you have be fast enough to be able to deal with that, and make sure you are still right in the mix with your team mate.
With stable regulations for 2013 you would imagine the grid is going to mega close once again. Therefore Massa will probably just endure the same problem.
The most telling stat of Massa’s season is that he has only scored 35.6% of Alonso’s points.Ferrari won’t win the constructor’s championship like that, which I am sure all the mechanics must be so desperate to win. Winning the WCC also brings a huge financial reward to the team. The title can also be used as a strong marketing tool to sell more road cars.
For me Massa staying at Ferrari another year will act as confirmation that Sebastian Vettel will be joining the team in 2014. At least Ferrari can use recent results to justify extending his contract though.
However if I was Stefano Domenicali I would be giving Nico Hulkenberg or Paul Di Resta a chance next year. They are both super talented and I doubt they would do worse than Massa. Chances are they could do much better, which why I would take that chance on one of them.
I think Ferrari and Massa parting company could be a great move for both sides. Felipe in particularly could find himself a new leash of life at team in the midfield, away from the Alonso dominated Ferrari.
Originally Posted by Curbs
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