Today's race has officially put Massa into serious contention for the Formula 1 title. My feeling is that Massa is approaching the races a bit more conservatively, he is fighting for wins on tracks where he is super confident like Bahrain and Turkey while utilising caution on the others.
As long as he keeps his head down and picks up as many possible points, it will help him build his confidence and then he can unleash it all towards the end of the year with simpler tracks like Fuji, China, Italy and Brazil. He will definitely not have the edge on the more technical tracks like Monaco and Magny, as he will find Kimi ahead of him on most of those circuits.
It is important to note that Massa's engineer Smedly made a statement that Massa is championship material. While I don't doubt Massa's capability, it's his unpredictable and at times rugged driving style that makes me unsure whether he will achieve his goal. However, after Smedly started working with Massa, he has shown an increase in his patience and a more strategic approach towards his races. I think this change of approach will bring out the best in Massa.
Speaking of change of approach, what Hamilton did was exactly that. After the last four races, it was evident that the Mclarens are using up the soft compounds much faster than the hard options. So while the difference in speed between the maccas and the scarlets cars is significant on the soft tyres, on the hard tyres the gap is quite small.
Hamilton displayed just that by running most of his stints on the hard option. The consistent drive also made him more confident while attacking Massa. The question remains, how much of the gap remains now? We won't find out unless the cars are out on the same tyre over a conventional 20-lap stint.
As development progresses, the biggest losers seem to be the BMW's. Red Bull and Renault are both climbing at a fast rate, however today Hiedfield was found racing in the midfield with the Red Bulls and Renaults. The team made a brilliant start at the beginning of the season, but since then, their rate of progress seems to be eroding.
Finally all of us located in North America, watch the itv commentary on the TSN. I find the commentators, especially James Allen a bit obnoxious in the way he keeps rambling about Lewis the moment his car is on the screen. James, I understand your love for him, but it's almost becoming the "love you never had."
At the same time, I don't understand why James has to be so negative about Massa. Maybe it's the British way of declaring patriotism, downing others and glorifying your mediocre countrymen, at times for no reason.
All in all, the championship is even more interesting this year. The loss of traction control should make Monaco full of surprises. I could only ask for some rain to spice things up.
1 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Alex Levy about 1 year ago
Hey Pankaj
your comments on Felipe Massa's championship material is interesting; however it is clear that Raikkonen at least and ferrari at most won't let him (F.M) get his hands on the gold this year; Massa raced superbly well in Turkey but then again that's one of his fav tracks. it 'd be interesting if he had the focus and sharpness of Raikkonen or Alonso cos this would spice things up at Ferrari and beyond for sure.
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