Massa pleased by di Montezemolo’s support

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Felipe Massa says he is grateful for the support of Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo following a difficult weekend at Suzuka.

Massa told the official Ferrari website:

Even though I am going through a particularly difficult time right now with a lack of results in the last couple of races, I know I can count on the support of the team, who have always been behind me one hundred percent, especially in the difficult times.

I was very pleased to read what our president Montezemolo said after the Japanese Grand Prix. Knowing he has faith in me is something I truly appreciate: he has an excellent understanding of the sport and he knows that you can sometimes go through tough times. The fact his support is always there is very important.
Felipe Massa

In the run-up to the race di Montezemolo urged Massa to raise his game and support Fernando Alonso’s championship efforts. Alonso has said he will be counting on Massa’s help in the next race at Korea.

Massa blamed traffic for failing to make the cut for the top ten at Suzuka and said his first-lap crash was an inevitable consequence of starting in the middle of the pack.

It was clear, right from the start that the Red Bulls were going to be practically unbeatable at this circuit, but even so being so many rows behind them was very frustrating for me.

The story of qualifying was all about traffic: when I fitted the soft tyres in Q2 I had traffic in the first sector with Jenson coming out of the pits and then I got a lot more of it in the second sector at Spoon corner, where I found myself behind Kubica and all that cost me enough tenths to miss out on getting through to Q3.

Of course, when you start from the sixth row of the grid, there is always a chance you are going to get mixed up in some trouble and that is exactly what happened, when I ended up crashing out of the race at the first corner. A very bad Sunday for me.
Felipe Massa

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    31 comments on “Massa pleased by di Montezemolo’s support”

    1. If I were Massa I’d play it quietly and make sure that any terribly inconvenient poor finishes in the last few races couldn’t be attributed to lack of effort on my part. Inadvertent trips onto the grass resulting in a first lap crash would be a good way to go about it. Sorry, boss, trying my hardest here, but that’s the luck of the draw sometimes. Did someone say Petrov was leaving Renault? I’ll… be back in a minute….

      1. :-) That’s about right.

      2. Did someone say Petrov was leaving Renault?

        No. Besides, if popular rumour is to be believed, Renault need Petrov because they’re running out of money. Massa might bring resutls, but since they’re not redeemable for currency, he won’t be of much use to them.

    2. The in car camera showed that he was not at all impeded by anybody in qualifying. If he means he was distracted by passing cars that were not on the racing line, tough. This prevarication and his continued failure to put his hand up after trying to pass on the grass at turn 1 are not so nice to see.

      He’s trying to edit things in the face of pressure from Luca but he put both Schumacher and Raikkonen on the plank when going got tough and Massa will go overboard even quicker.

      1. That’s the way Luca usually does business. He must be relieved Alonso is still in the fight this year, or it would have been a major embarrassment.

      2. I share DaveW’s reaction to Massa’s remarks here. The traffic situation in Q2 really wasn’t that bad.

        And it’s more than cheeky to sing a verse of “when you’re in the middle of the pack you’re at risk of accidents” when you’re the person who caused the crash and were lucky not to get a penalty for it.

        1. Agree, there was nothing wrong with the traffic issue as he had lots of understeer in the car.

          What Massa needs to understand that he have the boss’s support cause they wants him to become the second driver for the team for a very long time.

        2. I agree. Although I understand, that Massa needs to lay blame somewhere else, to keep his confidence, it is pretty far off the reality here.

        3. Looking at the onboard video (in the F1.com race edit), I think it was fair enough not to give Massa a penalty – he was squeezed by Rosberg.

          1. No he wasn’t. Rosberg moved into the gap Massa was aiming for and Massa chose to go onto the grass rather than simply slow.

            1. Slowing isn’t always the best option when there could be cars right behind you.

              I am not arguing that he made a mistake, just that I can understand why he wasn’t penalised.

    3. All the traffic got out of the way. Excuses excuses.

      1. And “mixed up in some trouble.”

        You caused the trouble Felipe.

        1. It was there for the chicane. They got out of the way so technically didn’t impede him but he wasn’t confident and mucked up his time. His own fault, he should have timed it better or been a bit more confident.

    4. He may have been able to take on Kimi and Lewis, but Alonso is on a completely different level.

      1. You mean the same Alonso who couldn’t beat Kimi or Lewis? Huh.

        1. I think Steve is referring to the Alonso that beat Kimi in 2005 and 2006, as well as the same Alonso that is leading Hamilton right now. :)

          1. he isnt leading hamilton. hamilton is trailing! :P

          2. He clearly isn’t but nice try ;)

          3. Do you mean the Alonso who had a superior car?

            I very much doubt Alonso is a worse driver now than he was in 05/06…

            … Actually I like your point that he’s leading Hamilton… Because Webber is leading both of them… (or rather they are trailing)

    5. Mice Flipflops
      14th October 2010, 18:41

      Felipe should enjoy his year off next year and then his ride with Williams the following, replacing the other Brazilite, Rubenzers.

    6. He should have done what Brundle said in qualifying. “Nip across the last chicane and hope no one notices”… Then he MIGHT have had a chance of getting into the top 10!

    7. I do wonder how much of that is Massa’s personal opinion and how much of that is Ferrari’s PR department…

    8. Massa has always been considered not being championship material. 2009 and 2010 (especially) results just prove this. Any other great driver would have fired up his performances after a Massas-like ending in 2008.

      It’s high time Massa moves away and paves way to someone who really really deserves that ferrari seat, Robert Kubica.

      1. I don’t see how you can bring 2009 into it – he did a great job before his injury.

      2. What you mean the same Massa who had won the championship up until the last lap or so of the last race.

        Hmmmm…..

        1. Wasn’t Massa only in a position to win the championship for two laps of that race?

          1. Massa was near sure to be champion up until the last TURN, where Glock let Hamilton pass (Glock should be beaten to oblivion for doing that) to get the pivotal 1 point he needed to win Massa

    9. Perhaps its time for Luca to get in the car and give his support to Alonso, while Phillipe sits in a cosy office in Milan and says nonsense……. :-)

      1. At least Luca didn’t say “we’re racing Felipe”. Only Macca could go THAT low.

        1. Only Alonso could go that low too. The Ferrari data was good enough from him to win in Malaysia, Monaco and the Nurburgring but then he threatened to shop the team once he’d benefited.

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