Massa: 2009 crash and team orders were Ferrari lows

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Felipe Massa singled out two moments as the worst times of his Ferrari career, which will come to an end at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

“I think the toughest moment… it was definitely the accident was not a great moment,” said Massa when asked which was the worst moment during his time at Ferrari, referring to his season-ending 2009 crash at the Hungaroring.

“And maybe the race in Hockenheim, 2010,” he added. Massa was leading that race one year on from his Hungaroring accident when he was ordered to let team mate Fernando Alonso past to take the victory.

Remembering the better times of his Ferrari career, Massa said: “I would say the happiest moment was the first time I won in Brazil, 2006, with overalls green, yellow, I think that was definitely the best moment for me.”

“You know how important it is for a Brazilian to win at home. If you remember well [Ayrton] Senna was more happy to win in Brazil than to win a championship, you see how important it is for a Brazilian to win here.”

Massa added he cherished his 2008 home win as well, even though it was not enough to keep Lewis Hamilton from beating him to the world championship.

“It was a very special moment not just that time but even 2008 was a special moment,” he said. “I won the race here, I was on pole, quickest lap. We lost the championship not here in Brazil, before.”

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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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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34 comments on “Massa: 2009 crash and team orders were Ferrari lows”

  1. Hats off to Massa. He has managed to get through some of the toughest situations in F1 racing. Yet he is not bitter or sarcastic. He genuinely wants to race. What a man.

    1. I agree. Being a second guide at Ferrari really must be one of the worst situation in the history of F1 racing. I hope the best for him now that he’s free.

    2. Yes he has always been a lovely guy, wish him all the best at Williams.

      @keithcollantine 5th paragraph says Beazil :)

    3. @mattim Well behaved today. As a fan I’m happy Ferrari got a new driver, Ferrari has been suffering because of his poor showings, perhaps some mental distress made Ferrari delay this decision for 2 full seasons. I think Felipe was a good driver in the previous generation, he can only either adapt to the next generation better than he did in this one or just get lucky.

  2. When Massa said, “There is still a lot to do in F1” and “I look forward to my future with Williams”, guess who Mr Nostalgic over here started thinking of…

    1. Clue – its not Antônio Pizzonia.

      1. hmmm. Aryton Senna? oh no………….. Massa don’t drive that car next year!!!!!!!!!!

        1. @full-throttle-f1 – No, it’s all right we don’t race at Imola anymore, although we are going to both Hockenheim and the Hungaroring next year…

      2. Ayrton Senna

    2. @william-brierty – Would that be Rubens Barrichello? :P

      1. Lol.. I was thinking the same

  3. That picture looks like Massa is weeing into a bottle through a tube.

    1. Lol…ya, and it’s FA’s bottle. I just hope for FM’s sake that tube is not a catheter. Or, if it is and he can keep such a poised look on his face, he might really have something else to brag about than being an F1 driver.

      1. *Massa in his head*

        “Gotta leave Fernando a present before I leave”

    2. You Pervs ;-)

  4. I know that the history of F1 is full of team orders but Hockenheim 2010 has to be one of the worst examples ever. I think it’s only fitting that Ferrari didn’t win the drivers’ championship that year anyway.

    Ferrari denied Salo his only F1 victory, most probably denied Massa his last F1 victory and they don’t even seem to be sorry about that. Every F1 driver should take an example from Vettel and disobey team orders when he has a chance to win the race himself as you don’t know if you’ll ever get that chance again.

    1. @girts

      Vettel could be in bed in Tahiti and still win the race :-P

    2. Hmmm…I think it is hard for me to believe that FM ignoring a team order in the first race of the season would go over the same as it did for SV.

      I think for sure if FM did what SV did, without being on a team that actually touts racing between it’s teammates, and without the cache of owning 3 WDC’s in a row, then yes that would have been FM’s last chance to win a race.

    3. Every F1 driver should take an example from Vettel and disobey team orders

      Easier done when you know you’re no.1 methinks.

      1. Well Webber knew he was not number one, and disobeyed TO’s too.

    4. I know that the history of F1 is full of team orders but Hockenheim 2010 has to be one of the worst examples ever

      Austria 2002 was also awful, when Barrichello left space for Shumacher with less than 50 meters to the finish line. That was disgraceful.

  5. I think that if you are one to believe in one-rooster teams, then you have to agree with Ferrari’s decision at Hockenheim 2010, and while I can understand FM’s frustration at the time, and obviously still lingering, I can’t believe he was that shocked at the call. He had to know they didn’t hire FA so that he (FM) could win the WDC on the team. He both saw and lived the MS/Ferrari era, so he should have at least half expected the call if not fully…maybe just not at that race at that time…but…

    I’m still of the belief that they didn’t start that race weekend expecting to make that call, but as the race evolved on Sunday and based on how FA’s points would land him on a day that saw both of the highly threatening Red Bulls looking to score less than ideally, I think they made a tough mid-race, spur-of-the-moment decision. And if we’ve learned anything at all about how Ferrari is capable of supporting only one rooster, it is that FM is lucky he didn’t get the call in the first race of the season.

    1. Watch the F1 Legends episode on Eddie Irvine. He was pretty straightforward (as he usually is) when asked about being second fiddle at Ferrari. He simply said Ferrari favour the quicker driver, and admitted that Michael was a lot quicker than him. He also said he felt that he would have got number 1 treatment if he was quicker than Michael.

      Felipe, was and is not quicker than Fernando…statistics over 4 seasons cant lie. It was poor form from Ferrari at Hockenheim, but hey, Fernandod needed the points…allowing them to race each other with a risk of an accident was not a viable option in a reslut oriented business like F1. I would have done the same thing if I was in charge of a team in that situation…its logical.

  6. There are not many more drivers on the grid that I have respect for than Felipe Massa, after how he handled what happened in 2008, 09 and 10, and he’s still fighting, and arguably driving really well as of late (USA aside)

  7. Good luck with Williams, Felipe. I wish you well!

  8. Felipe Massa is a first class gentleman, from head to toe. May God Bless Him and His Family, and Keep Them Always.

  9. Felipe seems like a lovely chap, and I *do* echo the sentiments of Broc Smith above, but I just wish that Massa had hung up his F1 helmet instead.
    Sponsorship money aside, I worry about the young driver that Massa will now keep out of F1 for another year. We know how good Massa is/was in F1, I’d like him to move over and allow another driver a chance – Frijns, Valsechi, Bird – it doesn’t matter.
    There are lots of up-and-coming drivers who will find nowhere to go because ‘senior’ drivers hang on to the very limited number of seats in F1.
    I know that it’s the ‘way of the world’, but there’s nothing more pathetic than seeing a past ‘star’ driver slipping down the grid from team to team before being forced to call it a day. I’m not saying that this will happen to Felipe, but you have to accept that Ferrari to Williams, is at this time, a backward step.
    I’m ready to be shouted at . . .

    1. See what you’re saying but I do tend to disagree. I still think he is good enough to stay in F1, and that is what matters.

    2. @TimothyKatz I’m not going to shout at you :) But sometimes the ‘senior’ drivers surprise everyone like Fisichella did at Spa in 2009 or Barrichello during the whole 2009 season. If Massa wins a race with Williams, that will be a massive story.

      As for the young drivers, I agree that it might be more exciting to watch a young hopeful giving it a try than keep looking at Massa or Button. Unfortunately no one seems to be considering Valsecchi, Frijns and a couple of others, who deserve the chance most, for 2014. Marcus Ericsson doesn’t exactly seem to be the next Alonso.

  10. Funny how everyone has always had the ‘poor felipe’ attitude toward hochenheim 2010, yet seem to forget ferrari making kimi surrender his position to felipe in 2008 (sorry I don’t remember which track). Let’s remember that ferrari only seem to use team orders when its obvious which driver has a realistic chance of challenging for the title. I don’t see half the complaining going on about Mercedes using team orders in round two this year, or red bull for that matter, as I do about ferrari in 2010.

    1. I’m sure Keith will link the appropriate article where there was uproar at Malaysia over both teams using team orders. Kimi surrendered position to Felipe at Shanghai just as Felipe had done to Kimi at Interlagos a year earlier. The difference with those situations were the other driver was out of the title race and it was in the best interest of the team. Hockenheim was different.

    2. I think it was worse for Ferrari to manipulate the points standing, than it was for Merc and RedBull to merely want to stop a teammate battle, and maintain the status quo. Ferrari sought an artificial change in the standings, whereas the other teams just wanted both vehicles to be safe– and one can’t describe that as either cunning or scheming. (In fact, for RB, it was certainly contrary to maximizing driver points.) Some people may oppose all team orders, but there are degrees of offense.

      1. I know Massa is a nice guy etc etc, but he has to move on from the 2010 incident. This is as bad as Monty’s proclamation that Massa was 2008 champion for few seconds. Alonso stayed behind Massa for the first few races and also made a legitimate attempt at a pass in Germany only to be crudely shut off by Massa.

        Hockenheim was after the first half of the season was over. It was time to make a decision. If Smedley had been a little more professional, it would have been easier for Massa to accept it too. All the apologies afterward were awkward. Should have been dealt after the race.

        Still better than a lot of supposed ‘young’ drivers. Give him a good car and he will be in the points. Safe bet for any midfield team wanting to score some points. I hope he does well at Williams.

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