Felipe Massa not up to the mark – Luca di Montezemolo
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa gave an extremely disappointing performance this year after his return to the sport. Felipe went through a horrific accident last season during the Hungarian Grand Prix and as a result, had to miss almost half of the remaining
2009 Formula 1 season. The Brazilian driver returned to Formula 1 with high expectations as he was at his peak before the accident. However, Massa gave a decent performance in the first half of the 2010 Formula 1 season but the second half was relatively
disappointing.
Many drivers have been complaining that the tyre compounds introduced by Bridgestone this year were not up to the mark and Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa claim that it was not easy getting used to those tyres.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo recently stated that it seemed as if it was not Felipe Massa driving the car in the second half of the season and the team had to go through a lot of problems because of that statistically.
Luca revealed that Ferrari’s 2011 Formula 1 car will be launched before the pre-season test sessions hopefully around the last week of January. He also rated both of his drivers’ performance in the 2010 Formula 1 season.
“Nine and a half to Alonso. He did not win, but from the point of view of results, character and relationship with the team. Less than a seven for Felipe Massa,” he said.
It was indeed quite disappointing to see Massa off the pace and since he was a race winning driver, his performance in the 2010 Formula 1 season was without a doubt nowhere near his previous performances.
“For some reason we have a problem with the brothers of our drivers arriving during the season. It happened with [Michael] Schumacher, [Kimi] Raikkonen and now Massa. I think Felipe got a bit tired mid-season and went home, sending his brother to drive,”
he joked.
However, he was pleased with Ferrari’s performance in 2010 and he believes that the team did an amazing job especially in the second half of the season as they enabled Fernando Alonso to compete against the top running cars race after race.
“For Ferrari, Eight. You do not get full marks when you don't win, but it was an exceptional year for commitment and determination. We were disappointed, there's no point denying it. But, realistically, it was more bitter in 2008, when Felipe crossed the
finish line as world champion,” he said.
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