Ferrari driver Felipe Massa’s rundown to 2012 Formula 1 season

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Ferrari driver Felipe Massa’s rundown to 2012 Formula 1 season
Felipe Massa has enjoyed a good run with Ferrari for six seasons but his place in the team has never been under so much scrutiny as it has in the aftermath of the 2011 season.
Massa has always been a second fiddle driver for Ferrari during his debut season with the team he was partnered up with Michael Schumacher. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 season and Kimi Raikkonen joined Ferrari. The Finn won the championship in 2007
and Massa ably supported him.
 Massa got very close to winning the 2008 championship title. He required to win the final race and needed Lewis Hamilton to not finish higher than 6th in the race. Hamilton finished the race at the top and Hamilton was at sixth place far behind
the top five to overtake them.
The race saw some very controversial scenario as Timo Glock who was ahead of Hamilton parked his car on the side and let Hamilton finish higher than sixth place. Glock said that he ran out of fuel and that is why he parked his car but nothing was investigated
and it still remains a controversial win but none the less Massa endured a set back and finished 2nd.
Raikkonen retired from Formula 1 in 2009 and Fernando Alonso was hired by Ferrari. Massa has been racing alongside Alonso for about three seasons and has seen his performance decline every season. It may have been the 2009 incident that may have caused the
most damage to the confidence of Massa.
In 2009 during the Hungarian Grand Prix Massa was behind Rubens Barrichello and in a freak incident saw a spring parted from Barrichello’s car and smashed into the Brazilian’s helmet. The impact of the incident was such that Massa was left unconscious instantly
and his car derailed from the track and crashed into the tyre wall at speed in excess of 100 miles an hour. The crash was horrific and Massa had to be airlifted to be taken to a hospital.
Massa returned in the 2010 season but was clearly off the pace. The Brazilian though maintained that he was coming back into his form and his pace is not off due to the accident. During the German Grand Prix Massa was ahead of his teammate Alonso who was
overall in a better position to contend for the world title. Massa was radioed by his team engineer to give way to Alonso to go for the win. It was a serious setback for the Brazilian and critics have again pointed that it is another point in his career that
may have demotivated him.
The 2011 season saw more trouble for the Brazilian as he got into several run-ins with Lewis Hamilton which caused him to serve a 10-grid penalty. He was criticised for his on-track behaviour and ended the season scoring 118 points and no wins finishing
sixth in the drivers’ championship.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo warned Massa that if he is not able to perform in the 2012 season he might not be guaranteed a race seat beyond 2012. Massa has since maintained that he can be better in the 2012 and even said that he can be faster than
his teammate Alonso if he is provided with a competitive car.
The 2012 season is integral to the future of the Brazilian’s career at Ferrari. It may also be the defining point of if he conjures up a world title. 
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