Massa Ferrari, the natural choice?

[Draven]

I've had a look and I haven't seen this discussed exactly.

Something came into my head while looking at the confirmed seats for next season.

My question is, do you all think that Massa was the right choice for Ferrari?
I'd like to clarify that I'm not having a go at Massa or suggesting that he's not a good driver, more what is it that he has done to land such a prized seat? (and I want to be educated by you all here)

Below are 2006 confirmed drivers for some top teams all F1 race winners except Massa. (no I'm not saying that a race win makes all the difference, it's just an example)
Renault
Fernando Alonso
Giancarlo Fisichella

McLaren
Kimi Raikkonen
Juan Pablo Montoya

Ferrari
Michael Schumacher
Felipe Massa

Toyota
Jarno Trulli
Ralf Schumacher

I rate Massa, I do, but Ferrari.... I'm just not sure.

[Ginetta]

Question is do Ferrari rate him? He's been given a one year contract with an option. He has to prove himself.
Personally I don't think he was their first choice, but a gap filler till their first choice became available

[Osella]

Ferrari know what they're doing- and have experience of working with him in the past. Is he their first choice? Probably not- but I can't see him doing a Capelli- certainly I hope not.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Ginetta

Question is do Ferrari rate him? He's been given a one year contract with an option. He has to prove himself.
Personally I don't think he was their first choice, but a gap filler till their first choice became available

Yes, they do rate him reasons:

1/ His big testing year in 2003 led them to believe he could be going places (and not with anyone else!)

2/ FIAT needed a South American replacement for Rubens because they vlaue that market.

He was most experienced and quick South American driver available over last couple of years.

Simple.

[krt917]

I'm not particularly a fan of Massa's, but I can see why Ferari went for him. As chunterer says, he has testing experience with the team, so should slot in to the squad quite quickly. Generally, I don't regard him on a level with the likes of Alonso and Kimi, so he is unlikely to upset Schuey too much, which is another plus for Ferrari. On the other hand, if he does turn out to be better than he has shown thus far, Ferrari have him right there ready to step in when (if?) Schuey retires.

I thought it was a slightly odd choice at the time, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense...

[BootsOntheSide]

As the team have had a close eye on him for several years, including a full season of testing, they hopefully know that he's up to standard. The corporate reason of having a South American driver is surely a big part of it, and nobody else is really ready for the role. At least for 2006, they do want someone who can back-up and learn from Michael - if Michael does retire at the end of the season, we might see 2 new drivers for 2007; the ball's in Massa's court to succeed.

[Kicking-back]

He's a driver I have a mental blank towards for some reason.

He's just never really registered with me - I don't rate him as a star.

[pole2pole]

I think the answer is quite simple....he has been signed by ferrari to be Michael's number 2. Ferrari want a driver that has both experince in f1 and also ferrari and someone who will not rock the boat and also may I add someone who will obey team orders at all times.

[Ginetta]

Originally Posted by pole2pole

I think the answer is quite simple....he has been signed by ferrari to be Michael's number 2. Ferrari want a driver that has both experince in f1 and also ferrari and someone who will not rock the boat and also may I add someone who will obey team orders at all times.

Strange, I thought team orders were banned

[Draven]

Ok his time testing with the team might have been a factor, but I still don't quite see it, potential sure (a place in F1, sauber area of grid), but I never really saw him ending up in a top 3 team, although I cant really think of any know quantities on the grid from last year that they could choose instead. But the 3rd drivers and up and comers from other series may have been options. (dont know if Nick H was anywhere near on the market when this decision was first being pondered by ferrari)

[312T4]

It was clear since last year that Felipe was to be the new driver beside MS for 2006 season.
1st his manager is Jean Todt's soon and this means a lot...
2nd as CHUNTERER as reported in his post, Fiat is doing very well in Brazil producing and selling lots of cars.
They definately needed a brazilian driver after Rubens.
So, to reply to your question, in my opinion yes; Massa maybe not the best choice for Ferrari, but definately is the natural choice for 2006.

[BootsOntheSide]

Would sales in South America really drop without a driver from that part of the world? Have they really increased since Rubens joined the team? Would they not be better to hire a driver from a country with a big car market but low traditional Ferrari sales, to gain support there?

On a purely racing basis, Heidfeld would have been ideal, he'd be a good support driver for 1 year and would almost certainly be good enough to stay for 2007. He problem with him is from a marketing angle - there's little to gain from having a second German.

[chunterer]

Along simialr lines Boots, I wonder what would have happened if MS had packed it in this year, and Rubens hadn't have been told 'No you can't take over as number one when he goes'?

Would Felipe still have bee signed then - would we have had 2 Brazilians in the line up?!

I think Mr Massa has been a touch underrated so far - i know it's difficult to fully asess any driver in F1 unless they've consitently got the right equipment but we have had some telling pointers so far that suggests he is an entirely sensible choice.

He showed immediate pace in first Sauber tests as a raw rookie and had Peter Sauber waxing lyrical over his potential in the same way that he did with Kimi.

He displayed Some aggressive and exciting driving that caught many's attention in 2002 (always goes down well with Tifosi and Ferrari in general!!)

His aptitude and pace was appreciated first hand by Ferrai in 2003 whilst testing....leading them to 'ask' Sauber to re-sign him for 2004 to see how he went against a good yardstick in Fizzi. The result was that he put it over the Italian in the first half of the season and then holding his own for the remainder of the season in very impressive fashion.

This year he has outperformed a former world champion who is known to be a real hard head.

Ok, so the management and marketing angles are accepted but based on all this we have to conclude he's served his apprentiship in quite tough circumstances and come out well so far.

All we can summise for sure is that if he continues to improve at Ferrari he could be there for a while, what we don't know is in what capacity...

[pole2pole]

With the greatest respect to massa i think he was signed by ferrari because there choice was limited dew to the role that being Michael's team mate involves. I would love to see ferrari break the bank and sign kimi or alonso to partner michael at ferrari but that's never going to happen because these guys and allot like them will not sign up to become a number 2 its 50/50 or nothing.

[Dutton]

Massa makes a lot of sense for next year. The biggy being that he already has a good idea of Ferrari works, and vice versa, so this should mean significantly less "settling in" time as compared to someone who has never worked with Ferrari before.

I'm glad to see him there, because since he has been in F1 I have liked him. He seems to have got rid of his "binning it" tendencies, which were his main problem in the past, so, all in all, I think this could turn out pretty well.

It is certainly going to be interesting to see how he does as compared with Rubens.

[Bononi]

I will go against the theory of "Massa is good for the FIAT's south american sales":

1) Replacing Rubens would guarantee that, but was Rubens important to FIAT in Brazil, then ? Answer is a big NO. RB never was popular in Brazil, even before his move to Ferrari, and things only got worse when became clear he was only a #2. He only did an ad, some years ago, and it was a joke about being second to a german.

2) Brazilian car market is solid and huge, and the national motorsport is strong and traditional. Carmakers invest more in national categories than in drivers abroad, which makes sense since they are in more contact with the targeted public.


3) If they ever were targeting "latin-america", a spanish-speaking driver would be more adequate.

Now, why Massa was the natural choice ? I think there two important factors. One already mentioned, that he had already tested for Ferrari, and having still some sort of contract with them, and the other that his manager is the son of Jean Todt.


Edited: #2 usually comes before #3...

[BootsOntheSide]

Leaving Bonomi's counting aside, there are some good points there. Maybe someone (Muzza comes to mind as almost certainly knowing this) will know whether Ferrari sales in Brazil have been helped by Rubens' presence. I suspect their worldwide sales would benefit more by having the fastest available driver - adn massa may be the fastest available driver who'd be willing to be #2 to Michael with no guarantee of remaining in the team past Michael. Spanish-speaking options are pretty limited for them really - Marc Gené isn't really up to scratch.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Bononi

He only did an ad, some years ago, and it was a joke about being second to a german.

His he selling BMW's and Merc's behind Ferrari's back?

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Maybe someone (Muzza comes to mind as almost certainly knowing this) will know whether Ferrari sales in Brazil have been helped by Rubens' presence.

If it's any help, I haven't seen any new Ferraris in my neighborhood in the past few years...

Originally Posted by martyn bott

His he selling BMW's and Merc's behind Ferrari's back?

And don't tell me Honda has chosen him because they need to raise their sellings in Brazil.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Bononi

And don't tell me Honda has chosen him because they need to raise their sellings in Brazil.

Well,if he's coming second to a Brit,he'll be selling Rovers (and good luck to him ).

[Gabrio]

To me, Massa is certainly not WC winning material. He's certainly a good driver, but then, all of F1 drivers are. I would (once again) tend to agree with KB, in that I do not rate as a star either. Is that good enough to be a Ferrari driver ? Furthermore, the italian press has not considered very well the fact that Massa is managed by the son of Ferrari's boss.

[Dani Filth]

was Rubens a star when he came to Ferrari ??

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Dani Filth

was Rubens a star when he came to Ferrari ??

Well he was/is a 'name' which is almost as good!

Quick reply to Bononi - Massa's choice is almost certainly down to Fiat wanting to continue the South American/Brazilian car marketing link.

It may not increase sales, but it's definitely good for overall PR in a country where we're told the market for the Italian cars is very big...

You might be right about availability of other suitable (Spanish speaking) candidates - but imo no current other South American driver is as good or indeed more appropriate than Felipe, except for the mad quick guy in a Mclaren..

Who know is couple years maybe Maldonado, Valles or Lopez might fit the bill?

[Korr]

He's at Ferrari because:
1) His manager is Jean's son.
2) His manager is Jean's son.
3) No good driver would want to be #2 to Schumi.

[Gt_R]

When Rubens went to Ferrari, he carries an image much like Fisichella going to Renault - A talented, quick but unfortunate driver who didn't have a winning car to show his stuff.

Like Fisi, RB went to his new team knowing that his teammate is a tough guy to beat, in a team which is set up around that man.

Massa on the otherhand doesn't quite register the same kind of impression. I do not really see much in Massa yet besides being a raw and quick driver who did well so far in F1. Sure, he stacked up well against good teammates in the past couple of seasons racing, but i think that his choice was much that Ferrari wants an available driver, with decent race mileage, minimal risk (ie Rosberg to Williams). Massa fits the bill, and the fact that he did quite a bid of testing for Ferrari made him a more "known" choice, than a "gamble".

Of course, being managed by N.Todt probably helps ease his way. But if Ferrari chose Massa, when they currently have at least Luca and Gene in their own stable meant that at least they see Massa as a greater potential than Gene.

And it's for just a season. If Massa screws up, they'd easily get someone else to replace him.