Felipe Massa pledges his future to Ferrari
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has pledged his future to the team, and has ridiculed all claims that he was set to walk out of the team at the end of the season.
Luca di Montezemolo; the Ferrari president had earlier urged Felipe Massa to raise his game and come to the aid of his teammate Fernando Alonso in the title race.
Massa though insisted that those words were taken in positive manner by him, and said that the relationship between him and the team remains great, and there is no chance of him leaving Ferrari.
The Brazilian said that such rumours come up every year, so now he does not take them that seriously and has gotten used to them to some degree. He added that he is totally committed to Ferrari and is doing all he can to give the
team his best, and off course to help his team mate Fernando Alonso to win the title.
Rumours about the future of Massa surfaced in July at the German Grand prix. It was in that race when he was given a coded message by the pit crew to let Alonso pass; Alonso managed to go on and win the race, while team Ferrari
was accused of sending team orders.
Ferrari did face a hefty fine of 100,000 dollars by the race stewards, and were referred to the World Motor Sport Council. The hearing though did not result in any more sanctions, but the future of Massa was of great interest to
many. There were speculations that Sauber might be interested in Massa.
The Brazilian though said that he does not read too much into those rumours, and neither should anyone else. He reiterated that his focus is completely on preparing for the final 3 races, and to take points off Alonso’s title contenders.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali had also come out in Japan after the race to confirm that Massa was not going anywhere. Stefano officially confirmed that next year Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso will be racing for Ferrari,
and termed the rumours as false and baseless.
Felipe Massa said that he has become accustomed to answering such questions ever since he joined Ferrari. He said that back in 2007 there was news that MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi was coming in to replace him, and next it
was Sebastian Vettel, and once that died out it was once again Rossi. Hence, it is nothing new and he just wants to work hard and do his best for the team without worrying about such rumours.
Felipe Massa, who joined Ferrari in 2006 has always been the support driver to some extent. Back then Michael Schumacher was the leading driver, after that Massa actually did have a great chance of winning the championship in 2008.
It was a true heartbreaking moment, when in Brazil, he had won the race and needed Hamilton to finish outside top 6 to lift the title. Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton managed to get into the top 6 right at the final corner and a teary eyed Massa missed out on
the championship by just one point.
The Brazilian admitted that the 2008 season has been on the back of his mind for the last 2 years. He said that it was unfortunate but that did give him heart that he can win the title, and next season he will come back with vigour
and launch a more powerful campaign to win his first Formula One World Championship.
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