Official: Massa to Ferrari 2006

Raglanparade · 2 Aug 2005, 23:54 (Ref:1370660)

Looking at F1central.net, the silly season has begun.

With Massa being signed by Ferrari for 2006 and thanking Rubens for his contribution over the last 6 years.

Asa · 3 Aug 2005, 01:36 (Ref:1370685)

That means Rubens will go to BAR.

That means Button will go to Williams.

That means Heidfeld will go to BMW (Sauber).

That means JV will stay with BMW?

annettouille · 3 Aug 2005, 01:40 (Ref:1370687)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asa

That means Rubens will go to BAR.

That means Button will go to Williams.

That means Heidfeld will go to BMW (Sauber).

That means JV will stay with BMW?

This is pretty much the picture as I see it now.

CobraSVT · 3 Aug 2005, 01:37 (Ref:1370686)

What if Button stays at BAR
and Heidfeld stays at Williams.
And Sato stays at BAR too.

Barichello @ BMW with JV?

JeremySmith · 3 Aug 2005, 01:41 (Ref:1370688)

Felipe Massa at Ferrari mmmmmmm okay I suppose, not overly excited by the prospect as I have said before I just don't think he is anything special. I am more than willing to be proven totally wrong.

FPV GTHO · 3 Aug 2005, 02:04 (Ref:1370692)

Schuey rates him, but would anyone go as far as saying thats Todt putting words in his mouth, waiting for the time to grab him?

steve_r · 3 Aug 2005, 09:11 (Ref:1370864)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Schuey rates him, but would anyone go as far as saying thats Todt putting words in his mouth, waiting for the time to grab him?

Schuey rated Jos Verstappen. Nothing to do with the fact he knew he could beat him hands down, I'm sure.

I suppose Massa is a decent driver, but I'm not totally convinced yet.

enemy-ace · 3 Aug 2005, 02:04 (Ref:1370693)

Massa is Ferrari's now and future N0.2 driver. A good payday peppered with a few wins. I would expect the driver that will replace Schumacher will be a driver of the calibre of Raikkonen or Alonso.

mabs_nsx · 3 Aug 2005, 04:56 (Ref:1370729)

What if Button stayed at BAR, Sato stayed at BAR, Heidfeld goes to Sauber (BMW) and JV stays with Sauber (BMW)

Where would Rubens go?

Williams, Midland or Red Bull?

Raglanparade · 3 Aug 2005, 05:37 (Ref:1370738)

my mail suggests:

Rubens and Button at BAR-Honda

Sato is given the flick from BAR-Honda

Heidfeld and Villenueve at BMW

Webber and Davidson/Speculate here at Williams-Cosworth.

Seeing the Champ Car owners own Cosworth also, it is not out of the relms of possibility to promote a Champ Car driver to F1 to help the credibility of the series as a stepping stone to F1. This could lead to Seb Bordais or Junquera (whos tested for Williams before) taking the seat. I think the only speculation is on second Williams seat.

climb · 3 Aug 2005, 06:13 (Ref:1370748)

Right time for Rubens to move out.
Good chance for Massa; ok it's probably not a superstar, but he goes to ferrari to be a second driver, therefore where's the problem?

Dutton · 3 Aug 2005, 07:01 (Ref:1370771)

The potential problem is whether he will do a good enough job.......

Redlake27 · 3 Aug 2005, 07:12 (Ref:1370777)

I think Massa will do a good job. In 2002, he came in as a very inexperienced driver at Sauber and fared well against Heidfeld - not quite as sensational as Kimi the year before, but enough to impress. His year as a Ferrari tester must have given Todt enough data v MS and RB to make an informed decision. Last year at Sauber, he was disappointing compared to Fisi, but got his act together at the end of the year (remember Brazil?). This year he has blitzed JV.

A good choice for Ferrari. After all, you couldn't see Alonso, Kimi, Webber or Button volunteering to be compared to MS in identical cars could you?

Asa · 3 Aug 2005, 07:41 (Ref:1370799)

I could see Kimi going faster than MS in identical cars and I don't think Massa exactly blitzed JV this year.

rustyfan · 3 Aug 2005, 07:42 (Ref:1370800)

While I don't have anything against Barichello, I think it will be refreshing to see someone 'new' in one of the Ferraris considering how long they have stuck to the same line-up.

Dani Filth · 3 Aug 2005, 08:29 (Ref:1370830)

he will do well at ferrari i'm sure of that .. but he won't blitz MS as he did with JV

Skam85 · 3 Aug 2005, 09:05 (Ref:1370857)

Good to see Massa going to Ferrari, and hopefully this will be a good move for Rubens, nearly mirroring DC's move last year. This is the way I think it will happen:

Massa signs for Ferrari
Rubens to BAR
Heidfeld to BMW
Button stays with BAR
Sato out (perhaps Midland want him, who knows)
JV out
Albers/Liuzzi/Klien/Davidson to BMW
Pizzonia/de la Rosa/Davidson/JV to Williams

hando · 3 Aug 2005, 13:51 (Ref:1371113)

I can only wish Rubens all the best for his new drive at BAR???
Where ever he ends up I can only say its about time he left. He is a better driver than No.2 in a team, I would consider him a No.1 driver in almost any other team.

As for Button, its a forgone conclusion. As long as Frank Williams has a team, Jenson Button will be a driver for Williams F1. BAR don't have a leg to stand on to keep him there.

As for Heidfeld, he's too good a driver to go back to testing and is the likely choice as a replacement for Massa at the new BMW team. The jury is still out on JV, I hope he keeps his seat.

VilleneuveTracy · 4 Aug 2005, 01:30 (Ref:1371557)

Quote:

Well, If JV hadn't been so attrocious in the Renault in those last three races of 04, everyone would be hailing Massa as a new potential WDC, working wonders in a terrible car.

I didn't see the final race of 2004 but I did a search on this board on JV's brief tenure with Renault and according to some he matched Alonso's pace in his third race with Renault. Is this true?

Skam85 · 4 Aug 2005, 09:06 (Ref:1371722)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

I didn't see the final race of 2004 but I did a search on this board on JV's brief tenure with Renault and according to some he matched Alonso's pace in his third race with Renault. Is this true?

Indeed he did:
Race fastest laps for Brazillian GP 2004

9 Fernando Alonso Renault 215.097 1:12.118

10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 214.823 1:12.210

Close enough to say matched I reckon!

Knowlesy · 4 Aug 2005, 10:30 (Ref:1371782)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skam85

Indeed he did:
Race fastest laps for Brazillian GP 2004

9 Fernando Alonso Renault 215.097 1:12.118

10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 214.823 1:12.210

Close enough to say matched I reckon!

Matched over the entire race distance though?

VilleneuveTracy · 4 Aug 2005, 18:46 (Ref:1372212)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skam85

Indeed he did:
Race fastest laps for Brazillian GP 2004

9 Fernando Alonso Renault 215.097 1:12.118

10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 214.823 1:12.210

Close enough to say matched I reckon!

So why did he finish well behind him? Did he have bad luck? According to the posts I read, he consistently matched Alonso's pace in the race, not just on one fluke lap.

How often has Fisichella matched Alonso's fastest lap this year?

Valve Bounce · 4 Aug 2005, 03:10 (Ref:1371571)

Rubens will be driving the new Honda/BAR car that Honda is pouring a lot of money into its development - at present there is a parallel development program from both BAR and Tochigi and next year's car with its 800 bhp V8 engine will be very fast.

I expect Rubens to get wins and be fighting for the championship next year.

**Born Racer** · 4 Aug 2005, 13:38 (Ref:1371946)

Quote:

I seem to recall that there were times when Rubens out-qualified and out paced SchM, and that's no mean feat in the same car.

Well I would argue that while Ferrari had by the far the best car, it would've been easier to beat Schumy on pace in that car than any other team's.

As for Barrichello leaving Ferrari, I think it really does make sense from his point of view. The Ferrari is no longer quickest and even though they may get back on the pace, I forsee a potentially very competitive few seasons with several teams close together at the front of the field, and potentially BAR-Honda one of them.

After Schumy leaves Ferrari there may be several key members of staff going around about the same time (what is the situation regarding Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne?), so leaving makes sense, particularly for a team in which he could be better than Schumy's team in the near future.

I would think this will be a good test for Button having a strong team-mate (if he does stay at BAR as some have suggested in this thread, although I doubt this in many ways), although I still think Barrichello is wildly incosistent. Very quick on some days and nowhere on others.

As for Massa, I think he may surprise a few people. I don't know about his outright pace, but I certainly feel this year his beating of Villeneuve is not solely a sign of Villeneuve being extremely slow (Jacques has found a lot more pace and I would say may well be fulfilling his maximum pace potential now), but of Massa being a quick driver.

sonic · 3 Aug 2005, 09:15 (Ref:1370869)

Well, If JV hadn't been so attrocious in the Renault in those last three races of 04, everyone would be hailing Massa as a new potential WDC, working wonders in a terrible car. He has outpaced JV even more comprehensively than Button did at BAR.

as it is everyone (most people anyway) reckon JV has just lost it, but maybe Massa reallty is that good.

He has calmed right down this year and has the occassional flash. even if he doesn just end up being a steady number 2, no doubt he will win the occassional race.

Lucky Git!

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