| Manufactured Massa |
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Coming back from a life-threatening injury suffered in a freak accident in 2009, the likeable Brazilian already had the excuse in his back pocket. And Ferrari were understanding too, giving their driver a big vote of confidence by retaining him over his World Champion teammate Kimi Räikkönen. The enigmatic Finn had made it to the top step of the podium that year in the unwieldy F60, but had looked out of sorts and lost favour with his employers since his 2007 success. Massa’s title run that came so tantalisingly close in 2008 was cited as a major reason for retaining him beyond his recovery. Ferrari had invested a lot of time in him, and the show of faith by Maranello was a grand gesture extended by the team, showing how far their diminutive pilot had come since his early days as the team’s test driver – or was it? Felipé Massa’s route to F1 was not quite as clear-cut as some of his rivals, á la Lewis Hamilton. After dominating mainland Europe’s Formula Renault scene, he then moved to the Euro F3000 Championship for 2001 and this seemed like an odd choice to many. Euro F3000 (occasionally down-graded to Italian F3000 over the years until it’s recent re-invention as ‘AutoGP’ for 2010) had been little more than a graveyard for old International F3000 drivers and even older F3000 cars, and at the time had produced just one F1 graduate – Minardi’s Alex Yoong (followed closely by Minardi’s Gianmaria Bruni, and later by Renault’s Vitaly Petrov). Despite the lack of prestige offered by the series, Massa made the most of a thin field and won 6 of the 8 rounds, winning the title at a canter. This success led to call from Peter Sauber. Never afraid to make signing out of left-field, the Swiss team boss took on a second rookie driver in two years – Räikkönen having moved on to McLaren after one year with the team. Paired with 3rd year driver and former F3000 champion Nick Heidfeld, Massa showed speed but not consistency – flashes of talent marred by a tendency to try too hard, resulting in an embarrassing late-season suspension. Sauber decided he needed to keep his cars in one piece and signed veteran Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 2003, but Massa’s performances earned him an opportunity to test for the sport’s biggest team – Ferrari. Back in 2003, many pundits and experts questioned this decision. Ferrari were riding on the crest of the Schumacher wave. More organised than previous iterations, Ferrari had gone from 70’s-throwback, politically-wracked underachievers to a well-oiled record-breaking machine. The signing of an erratic youngster to a team sporting the most successful driver of all time and his dependable team mate was odd, but Massa racked up the miles throughout the year, completing thousands of laps in the best car F1 could offer. The unthinkable had come true for the boy from Brazil – the grandest name in motorsports had offered him the chance of a lifetime – it was all too good to be true... Now blessed with the Ferrari ticket, Massa was placed back at Sauber for two years and showed a new maturity, whilst the world waited to see how long Rubens Barrichello could stand being a number two driver. He finally left the team at the end of 2005, leaving the door open for Felipé – who scored 11 wins from 2006 to that ill-fated day in Hungary 2009. Everyone within the team was happy, but despite the successes he has had there are still questions asked about why Ferrari came to employ a driver who had looked so ordinary in his early years. 2010 showed perhaps clearly why this came to be... Following in the footsteps of F1 champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, 90’s F1 suddenly had a large share of Brazilian hopefuls eager to emulate their heroes. But where Piquet and Senna had shown tremendous strength of character and ruthlessness to reach the pinnacle (the ruthless nature often manifesting itself on track), fighting all the way and treading on every toe necessary - the new generation of Brazilian driver seemed to lack this killer instinct. With a path to F1 forged by some of the legendary names in motorsport history, the likes of Barrichello, Diniz and Zonta arrived in the 90’s followed by another wave in the early 00’s – Bernoldi, Burti, Da Matta, Pizzonia and Massa. Of all of those names, only Barrichello and Massa remain – and both have made extended spells at Ferrari. Perhaps Massa was touted as a replacement to keep Brazilian backers and fans happy in the wake of Rubens’ departure, but Ferrari were a team eager to keep the sport happy in the wake of the ‘team orders’ scandal of 2002. In an era where team orders were banned (itself a ridiculous notion, but that is a story for another time), it is possible that someone at Ferrari saw an opportunity to create a stable future for the team – and avoid the confrontations seen in recent times between drivers at McLaren and Red Bull. Massa is a genuinely nice guy, something often quoted when experts speak of the man he replaced – Rubens Barrichello. The two Brazilian drivers have escaped the problems of living in their home country in order to follow their heroes, and are very gracious and loyal as a result – qualities not often found in the dominant drivers of F1 history. In my mind, Ferrari have taken advantage of this loyalty and appreciation of the opportunities given by these two drivers, and used it to ‘create’ perfect number 2 drivers! In Barrichello the blueprint was drawn, and in Massa we see the end result. Here was a young man effectively shown the door by a key developmental team at Sauber, offered a chance of lifetime to join the marquee name. While Senna was cold enough to view these chances as a means to an end, the more emotional Massa took on a huge personal debt to the team – making him more compliant when it came to towing the line in his racing years. After playing second-fiddle to Schumacher in the powerhouse German’s last year with the team, Massa was already expected to be number two as he was joined in the team another powerhouse: Kimi Räikkönen – the Finn having been proclaimed as F1’s best natural talent, as well as being the highest-earning driver as of that year. Despite a number of comparable performances, it was Räikkönen who had a shot at the title in the final round and despite dominating the race in front of his home crowd, Massa was asked to yield and hand victory to his team mate who claimed his first and only F1 title. This continual pairing of Massa with the biggest names in the sport must have had an effect. Seemingly always waiting for ‘his turn’ Massa dutifully went about his business, getting a crack at the title himself in 2008 – narrowly missing out to Lewis Hamilton after Räikkönen became disillusioned with his championship defence So where does this leave Felipé? There was the occasional, quiet murmur of dissatisfaction from Massa this year, and his contract is up at the end of 2011. Despite turning his best performance since 2008 at the German Grand Prix, his form this year was patchy at best. The injury works as the excuse for this season, but Massa has been at Ferrari too long to keep writing the years off. 2010 was surely the last year he could justify his comparable [to his team mates] lack of success to himself. Soon Massa is going to realise – if he hasn’t already – that he was never brought to the team to fill Schumacher’s boots, he was brought in to fill the boots worn by his countryman Barrichello, and Eddie Irvine before him. Only this time the supporting role wasn’t clearly outlined in the contract, it was embedded ‘Inception’-style in 2003. It is easy to imagine a naïve 22-year old Massa surrounded by flames, stepping cautiously into the devil’s office and reaching slowly for the outstretched pen to sign the contract to his dreams. The sad thing is, that probably isn’t too far from the truth. By Pip Hammond Worth Checking - Motoring news - First drive
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Was the 'supporting role' embebbed back in 2003? Yes, I suppose so. When in 2008 did Kovalainen pick up the pieces for Hamilton? Or Fisichella for Alonso before that at Renault? Massa is the only number two around who is capable of mounting a serious challenge in the absence of determination from the team's nominated number one. Like Barrichello, he never would have inherited that kind of opportunity alongside Schumacher but, against the les...