Stefano Domenicali says Ferrari will continue to back Felipe Massa – Formula 1 news
Stefano Domenicali says Ferrari will continue to back a struggling Felipe Massa this year in coming up with the results.
Massa has been in a horrid form of late, the Brazilian has not been able to drive up to his potential for a season and a half and talks of his replacement are rife.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had warned Massa prior to the 2012 season that he will have to bring in the results if he wants to save his race seat with the team beyond 2012. The complex car that Ferrari had in the beginning of the season meant that
former drivers and critics were talking about ousting the Brazilian in the current season as they believed he was dragging the team down by showing poor performances.
Fernando Alonso on the other hand has been phenomenal in the season as he leads the current drivers’ championship standings with 34 points ahead of the second placed Mark Webber.
In this context, it means that if Massa had been pulling his weight Ferrari would probably have been leading the constructors’ as well. As it is, Ferrari are placed second behind Red Bull.
Massa did however showed some bite in Valencia and the British GP and it seemed as if the Brazilian may be on his way back to form, but another poor race at the German Grand Prix has dashed those hopes.
Yet Ferrari are adamant that the Brazilian will be able to come up with results in the current season and they will be backing him up.
“We saw, for example, in Silverstone that in terms of race pace and qualifying he was much closer to Fernando,” the Ferrari team principal said. “We need to believe that Felipe can do the right job for the team and that's why we always said there's no pressure
in that respect. We want for him to realise that he is part of us and we will protect him in all conditions. I'm sure that he will give back what the team is giving to him.”
Domenicali has said that the team has not lost faith in Massa and the Brazilian also thinks that the team needs him. He said that in a competitive championship it is important that both cars are scoring points.
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