A week after the first European race of the season, we have five different drivers from five different teams finishing atop the podium. The season had been already speculated as one of the closely contested ones in the history of the sport from the times of the testing, and so it is turning out to be.
But among these baffling battles going on for the podium finishes and points, the middle section of the race has been really congested this season. Every race has seen 10-12 drivers cramming within that 1.5 seconds gap for most part of the race. The story off late, off the racing park has been revolving around a Ferrari car in that congested middle section.
Indeed Felipe Massa is clearly struggling in his F2012, and everyone expected him to, not because we do not believe in his credentials, but because we are wary of the fact that The Ferarris, off late, have been quite tricky to handle. Massa was excellent in the F2008 and had a shot at the title till the very end, but when we talk about the previous two seasons, he hasn’t been that good and has been clearly off the pace. It remains a fact that both the F10 (used for the 2010 season) and the 150° Italia (of the 2011 season) has been very tough on the handling characteristics, but the fact that Alonso managed incredible lap times and outscored Massa by a whopping margins hasn’t quite helped his cause.
The matter now seems to be really complicated and these are not merely rumours was highlighted by the statement on the Ferrari’s official website earlier this week which said“Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gears straightaway.” This would definitely have not soothed Massa who was already hinted after his horrendous 2011 season that his future in Ferrari was not as safe as it seemed to be.
2012 so far has not been one to be much talked about for Massa. With mere two points from the five races so far, and Alonso leading the pack with 61 of them, one can’t completely take his eye off from the extent to which Ferrari suffers from this wide gap. The current Championship Table sees Ferrari sit at an agonising 4thposition, when they could have done a lot better. The retirements, the wheel spins at the several occasions and the inability to maintain gaps have really brought Massa into the limelight big time.
With the young Mexican Sergio Perez already being linked with a possible Massa replacement for the 2013 season, it would be too soon but not all that wrong to think that the Brazilian is in a spot of bother. The latest news even hinted at Force India’s driver Paul di Resta being the other possible candidate. An end of Massa’s career at Ferrari may probably mean the end of his Formula 1 career as his age of 31 puts his place in jeopardy, in an era where teams look to nurture drivers from a young age.
All said and done, we hope that an able driver of Felipe Massa’s calibre can claim his stake at Ferrari for the next season with some authoritative performance in the upcoming flyaway races of the season.
The fact that he ignored the yellow flags at the lately concluded Spanish Grand Prix didn’t do much good to him, did it?
Adios
Krish