Stefano Domenicali: Massa’s injuries not the reason behind his poor show in 2010 – Formula 1 news
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa had a disastrous 2010 Formula 1 season. Many people believed that it was because of the injuries he suffered from as a result of a fatal accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009. The Brazilian driver had to miss out half of the
2009 Formula 1 season as a result but after completely recovering from his injuries, he returned with Ferrari once again in 2010.
People expected a lot from him this season as he was performing very well in 2009 before the accident but he was unable to perform up to his fans’ expectations this season. He finished in 6th place over 100 points behind
his teammate Fernando Alonso who finished in 2nd place just 4 points adrift of the 2010 Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel using the same car.
However, Ferrari’s team boss Stefano Domenicali denied this speculation and stated that Felipe passed all the medical tests required before racing in Formula 1 and it is not possible that it was because of his injuries.
“We made all the checks; as a driver and a man Felipe is perfectly intact. I am sure we will see a great Massa in 2011. He knows that he can't afford another season like that,” he insisted, arguing that as well as the technical explanations, the reason behind
Massa’s failure was psychological, not physical.
As a result, Ferrari suffered a lot since only Fernando Alonso was actively scoring good points while both of the drivers of their rival teams McLaren and Red Bull were scoring good points consistently.
Nevertheless, the team is now aware of the problems they were facing in 2010 and since they know how to overcome those problems, the team is aiming for the bulls-eye in 2011.
“The car of 2010 we had to start from scratch [after 2009]. Now we have a good starting point and a regulation change, so we have to make maximum use of our imagination for extreme solutions,” said Stefano.
It is expected that Team Mercedes is also going to challenge the top running teams and it seems that this time, there are going to be 4 teams running for the title which is going to make the 2011 season very exciting.
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