Raikkonen v Massa In 2009

Were the critics fair to Kimi Raikkonen?

A common theme among many 2009 F1 Season Reviews is that Felipe Massa comfortably outperformed Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari last year. The general consensus is that Raikkonen was 'asleep' until Massa's accident at which point he lifted his level of performance. However, is this completely fair to Raikkonen? Was Massa the quicker Ferrari driver, and if so, by how much? Here is a race by race look at the performances of Massa and Raikkonen together at Ferrari in 2009

Australian Grand Prix

Felipe outqualified and outraced Kimi in Australia, and had an outside chance of victory until suspension failure near the end of the Grand Prix ruined his weekend. However, Kimi had a much heavier car during the middle of the race which made his pace look worse than it actually was. The gap between the two drivers was never that big and Raikkonen's fastest lap was almost a full second quicker than Felipe's.

Malaysian Grand Prix

It's not fair to compare the two Ferrari drivers in Malaysia since mistakes by the team left Massa stranded in Q1, and Raikkonen stranded on the wrong tyres during the race.

Chinese Grand Prix

Raikkonen was stronger than Massa in the dry qualifying conditions on Saturday but Felipe brought himself into contention during the race. He moved up through the field whilst Kimi fell backwards and was easily the faster of the two. Felipe could have taken an unlikely podium but was let down by an electrical failure.

Bahrain Grand Prix

Raikkonen drove very well in Bahrain to score Ferrari's first points of the season. Massa was behind his teammate when he made a mistake at turn one and damaged his front wing, taking him out of the running.

Spanish Grand Prix

This is another race where it is impossible to gauge which Ferrari driver was fastest. Another qualifying error by the team saw Raikkonen eliminated in Q1 and his car suffered a hydraulics failure before he could make any progress.

Monaco Grand Prix

Kimi outqualified his teammate and took Ferrari's first podium of the year in Monte Carlo. Although there wasn't much between the two Ferrari pilots, Raikkonen definitely had the edge.

Turkish Grand Prix

Kimi should have beaten Massa in Turkey after he outqualified him with more fuel on board, but he made a bad start and that spoiled his afternoon. Felipe got the better of Raikkonen although it was pretty close. Kimi set a faster race lap which is unusual given Massa's recent dominance in Istanbul.

British Grand Prix

Kimi outqualified Felipe but was comfortably outraced by the Brazilian who moved up from eleventh to fourth. Kimi fell backwards during Massa's charge and his race was ruined when he got caught behind a slower Toyota. It was arguably Felipe's best drive of the year.

German Grand Prix

Massa outqualified and outraced Kimi at Germany but the margin was fairly slim. Kimi would have finished just behind Felipe on the track had his radiator lasted the distance.

Hungarian Grand Prix

Up until Felipe's accident in qualifying there was nothing to separate the two Ferrari drivers. Raikkonen was quicker in two of the three practice sessions and was ahead after Q2, but what might have happened during the race in anyone's guess.

With the above in mind Felipe Massa did outperform Kimi Raikkonen during their time together in 2009. However, the score is only 5-2 in his favour and some of those races were very close. If qualifying was all that mattered it would actually have been 5-2 in Kimi's favour. It's fair to say that Felipe was the better Ferrari driver last year, but not by very much. It's certainly doesn't seem fair to say that Kimi was asleep or that he was pummelled by his teammate.

Felipe Massa will face a totally new challenge in 2010 against Fernando Alonso. Will he fare better or worse than he did alongside Raikkonen?

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