Is Felipe Massa the Man For Ferrari?

Then a massive turnaround. He wins in Bahrain, comes in second in Spain and then wins in, yes you’ve guessed it, Turkey!

After that great run of form, Massa hit a real bad patch at Silverstone. He spun off the track many times, yes it was a wet race, but he spun too many times! He was unlucky in qualifying when he tripped on some oil that was spilt on track. So up and down are his performances, you're just not sure what he is going to do next.

I watched the German Grand Prix this year, and I believed Massa did not have what it takes to win. He was passed by Lewis Hamilton towards the end of that Grand Prix, literally muscled out of it.

I thought to myself, there is no way driving like that, he going to win this years championship. The Ferrari was so poor in Germany.

Is it a case of bad luck for Massa? Or is he just prone to making a few more errors than others? Maybe he hasn’t quite got the bravery to just stick his car where someone else would. But on his day, he can be unstoppable.

Rob Smedley, Massa’s race engineer, has helped cool the fast Brazilian down, and try to help him be more consistent with his driving, feeling confident and good within himself. But I still have the feeling that Massa is going to always be the nearly man, and never actually take the championship.

I would love to see him win it, he’s a great guy, and is fast and worthy enough. I just always wonder if he actually can. He needs to fight for the championship, without making any mistakes.

I saw evidence for the first time that Massa can pull this off, as I watched the Hungarian Grand Prix. Massa and Ferrari were not looking good for pace in practice or qualifying, and everyone thought McLaren would dominate the race. Massa had other ideas, he started third behind the two McLarens.

He made a great start, and was looking to pass the Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the first corner. He came steaming round the outside, gave a little room for Hamilton, and went through.

It was a fantastic overtaking move, and he went on to build a gap. He was looking good for victory until his car came to a halt on the pit straight. Smoke came out of his car three laps before the end of the race. Very unlucky.

He showed to me in that race that he can fight, and he has got the measure of the best drivers when it matters. I just wonder if he can remain consistent. We will see of course how it unfolds.

I make him my outsider for the championship. This is only because he has shown more errors than the other challengers in this year's quest to become champion and previous ones before it.

But is he really the man for Ferrari?

The successor to Michael Schumacher?

No.

No one will achieve what Michael did, and Felipe does not have what Michael was so good at: relentless consistency.

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