Massa's Future

The F1 races in Australia and Malaysia occur in the middle of the night here in the eastern time zone of the U.S. so we always tape those races and watch later.   I was telling Mrs. Howell what I thought of Filipe Massa's future prior to the start of the F1 race in Sepang.  Massa qualified well in Malaysia and that's a good thing.  He doesn't strike me as a driver with a lot of leadership skills and, for lack of a better term, iron will.   It's only going to take  Raikkonen beating him a few times or out-qualifying him before he will become a dejected, broken driver.  He'll be issuing excuses.  I think he's a lot like fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.  Massa did well as second driver under Schumacher. The Italian press and Jean Todt is piling on Massa over his less than stellar performance:

For letting both McLarens past at the first corner and then falling off the track in a battle with rookie Lewis Hamilton, the sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport refused to mince its words in contemplation of the Brazilian\'s form. " Massa did everything wrong," the editorial said. La Repubblica, meanwhile - which is Italy's major broadsheet - excused fellow Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen for managing only third place because the Finn had to run a de-tuned engine for the Sepang race. 

But the newspaper, perhaps recalling the Maranello based team's disastrous 2005 season, nevertheless wrote: "Ferrari rediscovers its fears".  The Maranello fan club noted that the retired Michael Schumacher "would not have let this happen".  Ferrari chiefs' criticism of Massa was gentler, but nonetheless fairly plain.  For example, Team Principal Jean Todt made it clear that while Raikkonen's engine was "compromised",  Massa's V8 unit was "quite fresh" after a pre-race change in Australia.

Raikkonen has proven that he is a winner.  He wants the championship.  Massa has to prove himself.  Massa should have been more patient in that pass on Hamilton.  Schumacher would have just waited for the right time.  It will be a quick season for Massa if he doesn't step up and take his place at Ferrari.

Thanks to F1Live.com and Yahoo for the quote.