Massa: “We urgently need to find out what happened”

2011 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Melbourne, 2011

Felipe Massa says Ferrari need to react “urgently” to their below-par start to the season in Melbourne.

Massa told the Ferrari website: “If there is one lesson we take away with us after the opening round is that we have a lot of work to do.

“We urgently need to find out exactly what happened in Australia, understanding what we did and what the other teams did.”

The scale of Red Bull’s advantage surprised Massa. Sebastian Vettel was almost eight tenths of a second faster than any other car and 1.5s faster than the quickest of the Ferraris.

Massa said: “I was asked many times over last weekend what surprised me most, the pace of the Red Bulls or of the McLarens. The answer is that I was more surprised by Red Bull, because what Vettel did in qualifying was very impressive.

“It’s true that McLaren seemed to have made a step forward, but Red Bull was really far ahead of everyone else.

“As for ourselves, our car is better than it looked in Melbourne and it is hard to explain exactly why we failed to deliver, which is why we have to arrive in Malaysia with the car we actually built, not the car we raced last weekend.”

He also said he was surprised Jenson Button did not surrender the place he gained after going off-track to overtake him:

“I expected him to give back the position after he got by, because the rules are clear you must do this if you cut a chicane and Jenson is experienced enough to know that, without having to wait for the team to tell him what to do.

“After he got by, Alonso also got past me, as I ended up being quite slow because of the fight with Jenson. And given that Fernando pitted before me, that left Jenson with another chance to give me back position but he did not.”

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    85 comments on “Massa: “We urgently need to find out what happened””

    1. Massa is slow anyway. He should focus on his own performance, leave Ferrari to work their problems out.

      1. “Massa is slow anyway.”

        Because he has never ever been quick at Albert Park, don’t judge him until a race on a normal circuit.

        “He should focus on his own performance, leave Ferrari to work their problems out.”

        So Massa is no longer part of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro? He’s one of the drivers who drove the car, maybe he can help with some decent feedback?

      2. He’s mashing his tyres it looks like overdriving the car. He needs to adapt his style like Hamilton seems to have done since the full fuel load.

        To be honest, when Smedley tells him how to drive it’s embarrassing. Why he doesn’t tell him to shut up is quite frankly, bizarre.

        He was always mega in qualifying – perhaps with race fuel he just doesn’t know what to do.

        1. He doesn’t tell Smedley to shut up because he needs the help. I read an article a couple of years back by one journo (in F1 Racing I think) and he was surprised that Smedley had to tell Massa he could take a corner at least 20kph quicker.

          1. Well then sorry, sad to say it but he shouldn’t be in F1 anymore.

            1. I have to agree with you. Massa was a fast driver but after the incident in hungaroring he hadn’t recovered and i dont think he will. If this season will be as disastrous as last one it will propably be goodbye for him.

    2. It looked to me that Massa gave Alfonso the position to immediately cripple Button, if the team have told him to let Massa through he would have had to let them both through.

      The logical view would have been to give Massa the position and fight on, he lost more time than needed cruising past the mechanics.

      1. Yeah that’s my feeling as well.. Probably a really fast call on the radio to both drivers. Very clever if they did!

      2. If Ferrari had prepared for that specific and unusual eventuality and arranged it in that short space of time without needing a radio call (we didn’t hear one at the time) I’d be surprised. Especially because Massa did defend his position from Alonso going into turn 13.

        More likely Massa was slower than usual through T11/12 because of his compromised entry and Alonso got a run on him. Although Massa didn’t give the position up, like most drivers he wouldn’t race his team mate as hard as he would another competitor.

        1. Even if Ferrari had pre race anticipated something like that, it would be admirably good thinking.

          I had the impression Massa clearly felt he was slow at that point and certainly had no reason to fight his team mate who needed a good inlap, therefore after the first turn Massa gave up the fight.
          Sounds like pretty solid team work to get both cars home as fast as possible.

          I must say this was the first time since a very long time I really enjoyed Massa on track. Sure it ruined his tyres and later he did not get much out of the car anymore.

          But the Ferrari was far from second best car on track in Melbourne.

      3. I actually think that Ferrari may have given Button a chance to let Massa by.

        I’m pretty sure if you look at the video of the race, you see that when Webber pits (on the same lap as the illegal pass), the Ferrari mechanics are also ready for a pitstop.

        Logically, this would be for Massa, as his tyres were poor due to all the defending. Then Alonso got ahead, so he had priority, and he pitted the next lap.

      4. To me it looked the same, but I guess Keith is right (again!): we would’ve heard some radiocall.

        I guess nobody wants to do a “Turkey-Vettel”, or is it a Vettel-Turkey?

        1. Vettel is a turkey.

          It’s probably a basic thing like

          If you are ahead on track of your teammate but your teammate has down a pit stop while you haven’t, then let him through.
          If someone needs to let you past and your teammate is behind, let your teammate through
          etc…

          It’s basic things that can be thought of before hand. If there is a situation where both can prosper then do it.

        2. I don’t know if Ferrari are able to plan such a thing but not hearing the radio is not something i take notice at. We hardly hear most of radio conversations anyway. This supposed open radio to TV policy doesn’t work at all. Is quite clear to me that we only hear a few selected things. Ether that or the drivers are amazingly more quiet than i thought.

        3. It should be rebranded the TurVettel, or perhaps the Veturkey

    3. Anyone else think if Massa is dropped no one will get him? I mean, what team would want him?

      1. After last year it’s hard to see his market value being high enough to get him a place with one of the top teams.

        1. I think the best he could hope for is a Mercedes/Renault seat.

          1. But does Renault want him? They are looking forward to getting Kubica back on track, and they have Petrov paying off the confidence put in him, not to mention the whole football team full of third/reserve and test driver waiting in line.
            What would Massa add to that?

            1. Well fair point. I can’t see him there in the near future…but that kind of level I think is the best he can aim for.

            2. It could end up being a straight swap with Kubica going to Ferrari. If Massa gets dropped a seat will open up somewhere because I doubt Ferrari would take on a rookie.

            3. I think there are two drivers that won’t go to Ferrari, Hamilton and Kubica. Alonso wouldn’t have it.

            4. Alonso wouldn’t have anyone that thinks might be a thread to him.

            5. might be a thread to him

              threat

    4. I’m really afraid of Massa. Ferrari would not care of whether Massa could be champion or not but seriously care of scoring enough point. If he cannot score point to catch up Red bull or Mclaren, they will fire him and bring someone else.

      1. He definitely needs to start finishing in front of at least some of the Red Bull and Mclaren drivers. Massa’s race performances have become too predictable, he consistently finishes behind the Mclaren & Red Bull drivers as well as his teammate. The only reason he finishes in front of the Renault and Mercedes drivers occasionally, is because of his car advantage and not on his skill. He has to seriously prove himself as a driver.

        1. Yeah. Who on earth expected Massa would fall into condition when he was champion for 15 sec. I think he was also quite good in 2009 considering bad car. I don’t know the reason he off the pace is because of Alonso’s shadow or accident in 2009.

          1. I think the accident must have damaged some part of his brain integral to racing. I mean before the spring hit him in the face in 2009 he was over shadowing Kimi! and Kimi isn’t slow ( although he did get a bit lazy towards the end and had too many ice creams)

            1. I think the accident must have damaged some part of his brain integral to racing.

              More likely it has affected both his confidence and his fear levels (I was going to say courage, but it is more that he can see now how badly things can go wrong, so is more afraid of them)

    5. “We urgently need to find out what happened”

      Yes, you do

      1. for sure.

        1. obviously

    6. I was Kubica to replace Massa ASAP (When hes fully recovered of course :))

      1. I believe Ferrari would not allow him to rally but Renault would.

        1. sid_prasher (@)
          2nd April 2011, 5:12

          They had allowed Kimi!

          1. well, after Kubica injured, everything’s changed.

    7. don’t worry bab Ferrari was the fastest car but we need less pit stops (O)

      1. Yeap Qualifying show us that Ferrari have the fastest car.

        1. Fastest race lap confirms that BBT….

          1. That in no way even comes near confirming that, Ben. They received f’laps because of a plentiful supply of fresh rubber, but that strategy didn’t get them past Petrov because the car wasn’t fast enough to overcome the time it took to pit.

          2. That’s ridiculous. They were fastest in the race because they had fresh tyres on with low fuel.

            Q3 is the real judge of outright pace. The last laps before the first stop for race pace (assuming they’re all on the same tyre).

            1. Ferrari’s issue was setup, not the car. It was such a handful which suggests traction was so hard to gain out of the corners. Malaysia should prove better for them, we will see Alonso get pole position come next Saturday.

          3. ferrari should come back

        2. Alonso commented after qualifying that they went for a more conservative approach.

          I assume that means that he set up the car for “mid race” performance while he thinks the rest set up their car for qualifying.

          That could explain why Red bull was so far ahead in qualifying when Ferrari were faster during the race.

        3. go watch te data, alonso median and vettel median was the same while hamilton was the third. .4 tenths slower than both of them . Also take a look at the data alonso has te 2,3,4 fastest laps with the hard compund while massa has the fastest one. so do you actually think the car is slow or are you worried??macca fans.
          just write facts!!

    8. And Massa urgently needs to find his pace.

    9. Considering that the Sepang circuit is probably going to play even more into Red Bull’s hands, I think that all of the other teams will once again be in for another butt kicking.

      Anyone who thinks that Vettel’s car was anywhere near its maximum in OZ during the race is seriously delusional.

      Ferrari aren’t even close at this point. Some (Flavio Briatore and others) even suggesting that they should scrap the F-150th and concentrate on their 2012 car now!

      McLaren are much nearer, but are probably going to have to get more radical with the car if they are going to catch Newey’s Red Bull. But Red Bull aren’t going to be standing still either!

      1. a month ago, There’re people saying Mclaren should scrap MP4-26 and F150th is closest rival.

        1. Exactly. Using that logic then all teams should focus on 2012 since RedBull is dominating. But obviously is not the case a this stage of the season. Ferrari being 4th is an great result despite performing less than expected. Removing Petrov out of the picture (which it will happen) we again have a year in which the big 3 compete against each other. Having occasional suprises from Perez, Petrov and maybe Mercedes.

          1. People are over-reacting to how slow Ferrari are. Had Alonso not been crowded out at turn 1 then he would probably have been fighting with Hsmilton for second place in my opinion. McLaren seem to think that they are out of the woods now and that other teams are in disarray. We’ll see what Mercedes and Ferrari have to say about that!

      2. Flavio Briatore is a blithering idiot. Don’t take what he has to say seriously.

      3. Anyone who thinks that Vettel’s car was anywhere near its maximum in OZ during the race is seriously delusional.

        So allowing a rival for the race victory to close the gap in half (3.2 seconds to 1.5) before the first stop was all part of the plan, right? And then allow them to starting catching up again?

        For a team which lost the opening race of the previous season because of a spark plug problem which ultimately bumped them off the podium altogether, that seems like a pretty lousy strategy.

      4. To be honest, when was the last time Ferrari actually had a good start to the season?

        2010 – lucky win, then long not too good
        2009 – not to bad start, compared with the rest of the year
        2008 – solid but not perfect
        2007 – first race, yes, but then nothing much
        2006 – how many of those first races were for Renault?
        2005 – whole season no real win

        1. “2007 – first race, yes, but then nothing much”

          They won both the constructors and the driver’s championships and were at the front alongside the McLarens nearly all year.

          1. It was Ferrari v Ferrari that year =P

            1. Hardly. Kimi had both McLaren’s behind him at the nd of the championship by 1 point.

              That is more like

              McLaren vs McLaren vs Ferrari

            2. I think he’s joking about the stolen Ferrari plans …

            3. It is hardly a joke is it :P

    10. Fair comments from Massa. They were desperately off the pace in Melbourne, worryingly so.

      I’m sure they will step it up.

      1. I am sure they will too, there has been too much doom and gloom about their pace, especially Massa’s, but I feel they will be right up there in the mix before long.

      2. Yes they were off pace, but I thought that Massa was doing a fine job right up to the point where they pitted him after the Button’s pass.

        Then he just kinda got lost.

        1. Racing wise he was fine from what I could tell, aside from the Alonso pass which just looked too easy…

          He managed to keep Button behind him, so much so he frustrated the hell out of him and forced the error!

          I don’t think Melbourne was a specific Massa problem, Ferrari just didn’t really show up at all.

        2. You must remember that Ferrari admitted they made a mistake with Massa’s strategy, so it wasn’t just his driving that dropped off.

    11. WARNING – My comment is going to be controversial!

      I have never rated Massa in the top group of drivers in formula 1, even in 2008.

      But his approach seems to be almost 100% psychological. I do not feel that the accident affected him as much as Alonso’s arrival has. Bahrain 2010 killed Massa’s career as a number one driver for me. Starting second on the grid and being beaten in the race must have hurt. Especially by such a schoolboy move. But to be beaten by the man hailed as “Schumi’s successor” and “most complete driver on the grid”, by a man who won over the Italian press immediately. Massa’s second place should have been heralded as a great moment in formula 1 history, returning from the accident which nearly cost him his life but was completely overshadowed by Alonso first Ferrari win.

      Then in China, Alonso overtook him on the way into the pits and got 4th place in the race. Then Hockenheim. Then Alonso’s legendary resurgence. I do not blame Massa for having lost it mentally but he should not. Had he been champion he would have no such problems.

      Yes he has dealt with a champion before but the pressures were different. Schumacher was never to be challenged and therefore Massa only saw it as a learning curve. Raikkonen did not endear himself to the Italian press and Massa was expected to run him close but by no means beat him. Then the pressure hit in the first two races of 2008 and he made needless errors. But he fought back superbly.

      But in most peoples eyes, he will never be champion.

      Where next? Williams, Renault, Sauber. Either way the future does not look as bright for Massa as was expected in 2008.

      1. You call that controversial? The bar for provocation is much higher here I think. This is conventional wisdom.

        Where is Massa going? He could replace Barichello when he finally claims his pension, as you suggest. Similar scenario could be seen with RBR, where Dieter may reward Vettel with a moderately talented footstool if he wins another title and Webber quits/goes down the plank. That is, if Dieter cannot get Hamilton to join his fizzy drinks company.

        1. Haha but I seem to remember being eaten alive for suggesting Alonso can talk to the press however he likes (when on holiday some months back)!

          1. Thats just because certain people here dont like Alonso. You could write a perfectly rational comment but if its about alonso…

      2. Tbh i dont see massa as worthy of a place on the grid. Cant see him better then any of the other drivers. All other drivers have somthing that you could say makes them racers but when massa is in that ferrari it looks like a school boy learning go-cart.
        His racing looks like sunday driving, its like he is there to start the race and then finish it in 1 piece, no racing will.

    12. Massa knows if Ferrari don’t produce a decent car this year he’s gone. I really can’t see this having a happy ending to be honest – Massa won’t drive for a lesser team and I really can’t see him rallying or in Nascar. Could be a bad one.

      1. Massa knows if Ferrari don’t produce a decent car this year he’s gone.

        Regardless of how good the car is, if Massa doesn’t perform to the best that the car is capable of, then he’s gone.

        Or maybe not!

        It depends on how close on performance a team mate Alonso wants. Alonso doesn’t strike me as a driver who needs to be pushed by his team mate to bring out the best in him.

        1. Nor does he want someone who is actually going to challenge him…

    13. I think this piece was to concentrate more on the surprising lack of pace of ferrari rather than Massas short comings. Yes I never really warmed to him and didn’t think he was good as others.

      However I think the accident and being out driven by Alonso has affected him witch I don’t think he will come back from. 2008was his best chance.

      I also believe Ferrari are closer to Red Bull than shown by Melbourne which should be shown at Sepang. I also expect Mclaren maybe to drop into third fastest positions, but you never know.

    14. I also think he needs to find out what happened to him, as he really struggle with his qualifying making mistakes which a driver of his caliper & the team he race with can’t. A quiet start for him this season but just like Button, Webber he also needs to raise his game as all three have to live with the same problem of having a team mate who is by far better then them in pace.

      1. Well Buttons start is ok. If he didnt do that move on massa he would be on podium next to LH. Button seems to like the MP26 and i think he can get more out of that car.

        1. Never saw anyone so pleased to finish in 6th place.

          1. He have to be given the penalty he had which he thinks may be wrong.

    15. I wouldn’t panic just yet. 2010 saw RB lead a whopping 699 laps to Ferrari’s 168, but Alonso almost clinched the WDC.

      1. But comparing 2010’s Alonso’s 126 laps led to Massa’s 42, and 2011 Melbourne where the highest place in the race for Massa was 4th where he did 4 laps as opposed to Alonso who did 23 laps in the same position…

        Massa does look well off pace.

    16. That’s interesting what he said about alonso pitting first, I never realised that.

      It was very poor judgement on Jenson’s and team’s behalves.

      Even I was saying he’s gotta give that back as it happened and they gotta a bunch of guys watching it back at MTC

    17. The words ‘urgently’ and ‘obviously’ should be banned from f1, with a drive through penalty for first offence and ten place grid drop for second offence. Multiple offences leave the stewards no option but to force the offending driver into the cockpit of a Virgin MVR-02, while continuous and blatant disregard to said rule will be penalised with a recording contract for an album of christmas duets with Nicole Sherzinger.

    18. Had Massa won the 2008 titles, he would have been one of the most undeserving champions ever.

      He is atrocious in the wet (remember his 6 … yes 6 spins at the 08 Silverstone), freuqently rubbish at Monaco and couldnt win the 08 title despite FIA (Ferrari-in-Aid)’s best efforts to frustrate Hamilton at every possible opportunity and award Massa the title on a plate

      (Spa 08 anyone? Or what about Valencia 08 – another giveaway that FIA favored Massa when he almost rammed Sutil in the pitlane only for FIA to give him a mickey mouse fine and let him. off the hook. Had that been Hamilton, he would have been banned for 3 races for instigating a collision and made to compete on 3 wheels for the rest of the season)

      And yes, massa had the cheek to comment he deserved to win the title based on his own efforts. Right………

    19. I have always thought Massa was never fast enough. He makes enough mistakes & gives up positions easily. Except for this last race, he did well to cover Button.

      I can’t wait for Ferrari to replace him with a driver who can take the points away from Alonso’s competition.

    20. The OZ race has not always been an indicator for teams’ true pace. However, it’s quite visible that Ferrari have very conservative package altogether, so Massa should focus on himself and just tell Ferrari to bring up the old flexible wing, so they can match RBR’s flexi wing.

    21. Is really funny that all of a sudden, everyone agrees that a guy with nine seasons under his belt, going for his sixth season with Ferrari, with 11 wins and 33 podiums, is rubbish. OK, then.

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