It's a result hardly anybody has yet predicted in 2008, and it's easy to see why.
Massa's start to the season was erratic, with retirements in Australia and Malaysia. He's taken far longer to get to grips with the new Ferrari than his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen.
But on recent form, Massa looks to have the measure of his champion teammate. It remains to be seen whether the Brazilian can keep this form up for the whole season.
If he can, then don't be surprised to see him emerging at the top of the standings after his home race in São Paulo at the end of the season.
Don't forget, it was largely bad luck that put Massa out of contention for the 2007 title. This is not to take anything away from Räikkönen—his consistency towards the end of the season was immense, and he thoroughly deserves his title as world champion.
But how quickly we have forgotten that Kimi was behind Massa in the standings for almost half of the year. Without Massa's unlucky qualifying incident at Hungary, his suspension failure in Italy, and his pitlane disqualification in Canada, he could have been right up there with Alonso, Räikkönen and Hamilton.
Now, after six races of 2008, he finds himself just one point behind his teammate and with the upper hand in terms of form. We know that the Ferrari is faster relative to the McLaren this year, so there's good reason to think that the Ferrari drivers are best placed to win the world title.
Massa has silenced his critics lately with excellent drives. Everyone was surprised to see him on pole last weekend at Monte Carlo. His Monaco run was soured only by a small off at turn one.
But given that all but two drivers made some such error, and the huge margin by which he beat his teammate, that should be forgiven.
If Massa keeps surprising people by putting his car at the front of the grid, and driving the excellent races that we know he's capable of, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be the first Brazilian world champion since Ayrton Senna.
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4 months ago
Interesting one ... That dude has the speed and talent and he certainly has the right machine to do it ... Could be an interesting bet ... Not necessarily a sure winner but certainly a contender ! You can mark my words that he will be up top come end of season !
4 months ago
i think hes does have great potential as a f1 driver. you dont get a drive at ferrari if you dont have quality, however he has always been over shadowed by his team mates such as shumacher and now current champion kimi. i feel that it will be between lewis and kimi for the title and am looking forward to another great season eapecially if the last GP was anything to go by.
4 months ago
Great article there. I think you have put forward some very strong arguments to defend your case and that really made it an interesting read; however don't take this the wrong way, but I just don't see Massa lifting the silverware this year to be honest. Even though in Monaco he got P1 in qualifying on a track he coined as a dislike in the pre-race press conference, which in essence proves he can do great things outside his favourites Grand Prix.
Having said that Felipe may prove me and his critics the world over all wrong walking in Interlagos as champion already or winning it there, it's all possible but I'm just not comfortable betting on that one. Not with Raikkonen as numero uno at Ferrari anyways. what do you think?
from 4 months ago
I'm not sure that Ferrari will give Kimi preferential treatment -- at least, I can't think of any time that they've done that so far, except for the season finale last year obviously. But we'll see!
from 4 months ago
I agree with Carl, I don't think Kimi is the de facto number one at Ferrari. To be sure, I think he has put in the stronger resume in their time together as teammates, and if push comes to shove and Ferrari had to choose one, I think they would lead towards the Ice Man, but they aren't giving him any visible special treatment. With Ferrari having two of the top drivers in F1, I don't think they have anyone playing second fiddle at the moment.
from 4 months ago
I think if one driver was to be more upset by the #1 status, it would be Massa. He and Raikkonen are complete opposites- one a fiery Brazilian and the other a stoic Finn. Ferrari doesn't have political issues, at least within the team. Preferential treatment or driver feuds shouldn't plague the team anytime soon.
4 months ago
Interestingly enough, there's a similar article on F1-Live this morning:
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080530102806.shtml
So apparently I'm not the only one making wild predictions :-)
4 months ago
Interestingly enough, there's a similar article on F1-Live this morning:
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080530102806.shtml
So apparently I'm not the only one making wild predictions :-)
4 months ago
i respect felipe as an awesome driver , but you cant say you hate a track just because you never do well there , surely drivers with the talents of these guys should be able to face every grand prix as if they love the place , did you ever hear michael schumacher disliking a track ? no !! because he knew he had the ability to win any race that came his way, and until felipe takes that attitude i cant see him being world champion . it would be good to see as he is a great character in f1 but right now hes not world champ material for me .
4 months ago
10 millions i bet that massa will be the chanpion this season and you will remember!
Mark says it's wrong to dislike a track, for sure felipe says that as frankly as his earlier talk obout tracktion control, always he talks frankly.
but u can see his performance at monaco; the pole and the "imminent win", as we saw his cope with TC.
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