Keeping Massa was “right decision” – Montezemolo
2012 F1 season
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says his team made the correct decision by keeping Felipe Massa for the 2013 season.
“The Brazilian improved a great deal in the second half: in fact in the first part, it seemed he’d gone on a round the world holiday,” Montezemolo told Ferrari’s website.
“Joking apart, I think the decision to reconfirm his position was the right one: if we had changed, then one would need to take on someone who would make a difference and I can’t say I noticed many drivers around who would be quicker than Felipe.
“Also, we did not want to change the balance and the good atmosphere within the team.
“[Team principal Stefano] Domenicali and I told ourselves it was best to wait and I think that the facts proved us right. Towards the end, when Felipe was even faster than Fernando a couple of times, the points he scored played a vital part in securing our place in the constructors’ championship.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently queried Ferrari’s decision to keep Massa and said he would not have done the same.
Montezemolo also praised Fernando Alonso and compared him to two of the team’s previous multiple champions:
“The Spaniard is a mix of [Niki] Lauda and [Michael] Schumacher: like the former, he has the ability to drive every race lap as though it was qualifying, like the latter, he has the intelligence to know when it’s time to push and when it’s time to look after the car.”
2012 F1 season
- 2012 F1 season Blu-Ray “Victorious Vettel” reviewed
- 2012 F1 season DVD “Victorious Vettel” reviewed
- New team radio reveals Vettel’s penalty protests
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2012 season review
- What F1 Fanatics thought of 2012: The year in polls
Browse all 2012 F1 season articles
Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo
Salcrich said on 21st December 2012, 14:11
Massa clearly has the underlying skill that Ferrari recognised in the first place and they clearly feel that he has not lost that ability, but they have not been managing him properly to extract what they saw in him. As a manager ( in any walk of life) if you believe you have that motivational ability you would not instantly sack an under performing team member. It is also true that any change will result in months of bedding in of new management structures which may be a less palatable alternative. Buttons slump (although shorter) was a clear illustration of this. Will Torres continue to play for Chelsea,is Martin O,Neil still a great manager? you can add your own list of examples!
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 23rd December 2012, 0:58
I find that amusing considering Massa outscored Weber by 40 points over the final 10 races despite driving an inferior car and moving over to help his team mate, something Mark clearly avoided until he absolutely had to.
A simple analysis reveals that over the second half of the year Massa was performing, points wise on a level similar to all of the top 6 drivers other than Weber who he and the others significantly outscored and Vettel who significantly outscored everyone else.