2011 end of term report – Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa was arguably one of the most disappointing drivers of the year.
The Brazilian was expected to bounce back from a difficult season in 2010 but struggled once more. He finished well behind his teammate Fernando Alonso and might feel the pressure to deliver in 2012 as Ferrari’s patience run out.

Season review

For his sixth consecutive season with Ferrari, Felipe Massa was once again teamed up with double World Champion Fernando Alonso.

At the season’s opener in Australia, the Brazilian qualified in 7th position. On Sunday, he took a good start and climbed up to 5th. He managed to keep Jenson Button at bay for a while but his pace faded in the second half of the race and he slipped down the order. He crossed the line in 9th place.
In Malaysia, he scored one of his best results of the year. Seventh on the starting grid, he found good pace on Pirelli’ super soft tyres and finished the race in 5th place.
He improved a bit more in China and, despite his strategy, finished in 6th position. For the second consecutive time, he was in front of his teammate.
He missed the points in the next three races. Monaco started a series of clashes with McLaren’s Hamilton. The Ferrari driver was far from impressed with the Briton’s behavior and publicly slammed him.

In Canada, Massa qualified 3rd and raced to 6th on the finish line. He was 5th at Valencia, Silverstone and in Germany – where he lost 4th place to Sebastian Vettel in the penultimate lap.
In Hungary and Belgium, he qualified in front of Alonso… but failed to capitalize on it in the race. He finished 6th at Budapest and 8th at Spa. On Ferrari’s home soil, he was pushed by Webber into a spin on lap 5 and took 6th place under the chequered flag.

Massa’s Singapore Grand Prix was marred with incidents with Lewis Hamilton. They had a first coming together in qualifying and then collided in the race. The McLaren driver made a move on the Brazilian but hit him and punctured his rear tyre. Hamilton was penalized with a drive-through. Once again, Massa was furious and harshly criticized his rival.

History repeated itself in Japan… Massa and Hamilton collided in the race. Despite a damaged front wing, the Ferrari driver finished in 7th place. After the race, he demanded action be taken against the Briton. After a respite in Korea, both drivers crashed one more time in India. This time though, Massa was the one to blame and was penalized with a drive-through. He retired later on after breaking a suspension on a kerb.

He ended his season with two fifth places and finally made peace with Hamilton.

Conclusion

Outclassed by his teammate, Felipe Massa scored twice less points than Alonso. For the second year in a row, he finished more than 100 points behind the Spaniard. Even more disappointing for the Brazilian, he didn’t make a single appearance on the podium and his best result was a 5th place finish.

2012 may be his last opportunity to deliver… his contract with Ferrari will run out at the end of next year and Luca di Montezemolo is already putting him under pressure. He is expected to perform much more strongly, to help the Scuderia in its push for the constructors’ title. Should he fail to do so, he will probably be shown the door…

Highs
—  Out qualified Alonso four times
—  Showed some fighting spirit
—  Celebrated his 100th Grand Prix with Ferrari

Lows
—  Couldn’t finish higher up than 5th
—  Not quick enough, inconsistent
—  Didn’t help Ferrari in its championship’s assault

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 8/20
— D.Thys : 12/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 10/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 9/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 9/20
—  Total : 48/100