It said a lot about Felipe Massa at the Chinese Grand prix; he finished 6th, 15 seconds ahead of Alonso, yet he was still slightly disappointed. In truth, he had good reason to be. Without Ferrari’s rigid strategy, he may have overhauled Sebastian Vettel through the pit stops and been on the podium. Whether he would have closed in on Lewis Hamilton is another matter entirely, but it was still a massive step on Massa’s road to recovery.
His revival is by no means complete, but there are signs that he is at last beginning to stir. Let me take you back to 25th July 2009, where it all began. The Brazilian fractured his skull during qualifying for the Hungarian GP after he was hit by a metal spring, which fell off fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello's Brawn. Having been hit on the helmet, Massa was knocked unconscious and hit the tyre wall at turn 4 at 125mph. Many we were unsure whether he would race again, let alone complete the 2009 season. He was told to rest and come back fit and ready in 2010 for another crack at the title he was so close to winning in 2008. Then came Fernando Alonso.
Massa’s lacklustre return last season has overshadowed what was a reasonable start to the campaign. He qualified on the front row in Bahrain, ahead of Alonso. Nevertheless he was passed by his teammate into the first corner and although retrieving second place from Vettel, Alonso had thrown down the gauntlet at Ferrari.
However, Massa sealed another podium in Australia behind Jenson Button and Robert Kubica although it would not be an understatement to suggest he was rather fortunate in Melbourne. Despite an incredible start where he jumped up to second, Massa was the main beneficiary from Hamilton’s collision with Mark Webber and Alonso’s first corner spin. His seventh place at Malaysia from 21st on the grid was certainly impressive, indicating the Ferrari driver’s fighting spirit had returned. That result saw him head the World Championship by two points.
Then it all went awry. Mclaren overtook Ferrari in outright pace, while neither team could match the two Red Bulls. Massa finished the season 6th in the standings with 144 and collected just two more podiums following the Malaysian Grand Prix. In Korea he kept in on track in treacherous conditions to finish behind Hamilton and race winner Alonso, but before that of course was the controversial German Grand Prix.
Exactly one year after his horrifying accident at the Hungaroring, Massa lined up third on the grid at Hockenheim behind Vettel and Alonso. As Vettel moved to block Alonso at the start, Massa swooped round the outside to take the lead of the race. Massa was quicker than Alonso in the opening stint of the race and looking comfortable, despite the fact Alonso had been quicker than his teammate all weekend. With the Championship slipping away with every race, Ferrari acted, and via a coded message informed Massa to let Alonso past: “Fernando is faster… than… you… can you confirm you understood that message?”
Massa deliberately slowed out of the turn 6 hairpin and Alonso cruised past into the lead. The Brazilian was never the same all season. One lap later, his race engineer Rob Smedley returned on the radio: “"Good lad. Just stick to it now… sorry..." For Massa, it was almost parallel to Barrichello’s actions in Austria in 2002. A win had been taken away from him and it was evident that the team was now fully functioning around its double world champion.
I posted a few months ago declaring Massa’s position at Ferrari irrecoverable. With Robert Kubica waiting in the wings, it seemed certain Massa would leave Maranello at the end of the season. Yet things change quickly in F1. Kubica’s accident, followed by an upturn in form for the Brazilian, has strengthened his position in the Ferrari team. After an inauspicious start to the season in Australia, Massa has responded brilliantly since then, outpacing Alonso in both of the previous two races. The Brazilian is clearly a driver growing in confidence and has finally recognized that his illustrious teammate can be beaten.
Ferrari are still wounded following their capitulation in Abu Dhabi and Alonso looks to be feeling the pressure more than ever. This burden does not fall so heavily on Massa’s shoulders and he can use this to take advantage of Alonso disjointed start to the campaign. The next race is just six days away in Istanbul, a circuit that Massa has found favourable in recent years. He took a hat-trick of wins there in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and although it seems unlikely he would add to that tally this weekend, outperforming Alonso for the third consecutive race will feel like a victory for the rapidly improving Brazilian.
Josh.
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