Felipe Massa and Ferrari’s future options

Felipe Massa and Ferrari’s future options

Felipe Massa is a driver under pressure. Last year he was comprehensively outperformed by his teammate and has already started 2011 on the back foot. It’s very early days to be passing any meaningful judgement on Massa’s prospects this season, but Felipe will need to ensure that his scrappy drive at Albert Park was just a one-off to avoid a repeat of last year. 2010 marked a turning point in Massa’s career, and another discouraging season like it may bring about the end of his time at Ferrari.

There are two main reasons why 2010 was so disappointing for the Brazilian.

Raw speed

The first is that Massa’s performances were a long way short of Fernando Alonso’s. Although he consistently scored points, Felipe was no match for Ferrari’s new hero. Alonso came within a poorly timed pitstop of winning the World Championship whilst Massa was 108 points behind in 6th place. The average gap in qualifying between the two Ferrari drivers was a massive three tenths of a second (compared to just a few hundredths between the Red Bull drivers) and Massa could only manage half the number of podiums as his teammate.

Felipe had some strong showings last year, but overall his pace simply wasn’t there and he struggled in any race that used the harder Bridgestone tyres. It was especially disheartening to see him struggle at Istanbul and Interlagos, two circuits he had made his own in previous years.

Team relations

The second reason that 2010 was disconcerting for Massa is that he lost his close bond with Ferrari management. Until last year, Felipe had always been very well looked after in the team having been part of the Ferrari family since 2003. Massa’s popularity within the Scuderia was so strong that, even when his career was threatened by serious injury in 2009, he was favoured over Kimi Raikkonen.

The arrival of Fernando Alonso has changed that.

Alonso is quite possibly the best overall driver in Formula One and is the man who knocked Michael Schumacher from the top of the sport’s pecking order. That, combined with his fiery passion and intense hunger to win, has made him Ferrari’s favourite son.

This was reflected on track last year during the controversial German Grand Prix, when Massa was ordered to move over for Alonso, and was also seen away from the circuit. At a team function in December, Luca Di Montezemolo said "At a certain point in the season Felipe was fed up and sent his brother. For this Felipe gets seven minus”. That’s a very direct statement, and one that wouldn’t have sat well with Massa.

Pressure to perform

The current Formula One field is one of the most talented of all time with 5 World Champions on the grid and several others with future potential. This places huge pressure on any underperforming drivers in the top teams.

2011 has not started as Felipe would have liked. He has traditionally struggled at the Albert Park circuit but he was never in the hunt on the weekend. Massa was beaten by Alonso in much the same way that Webber was beaten by Vettel. He was six tenths behind in qualifying, and was almost a full minute behind at the chequered flag. Quite simply, Felipe was much slower than Alonso and also asked more of his tyres.

Massa is still a very good driver, but Ferrari may look to change their line up if they feel he is no longer their best option.

Robert Kubica

Felipe Massa would be under more pressure if it wasn’t for the unfortunate injuries that knocked Robert Kubica out of Formula One this year. Ferrari has been looking at Kubica for some time and there were even rumours claiming the two parties had signed a formal letter of intent. However, Kubica is now in the fight of his career simply to make an F1 return and his full recovery may take some time. Ferrari will be keen to see Robert back in the sport, but it’s not going to be in one of their cars just yet.

Jules Bianchi

Ferrari's current test and reserve driver is Jules Bianchi, a 21 Frenchman with some clear talent. He won the competitive Formula Three Euroseries in 2009 and has also tested strongly with Ferrari when given the opportunity. Bianchi was not particularly inspiring in GP2 last year, claiming just 4 podiums, but he was very competitive in the recent GP2 Asia series and is looking for a strong 2011 season.

Ferrari would be taking a huge risk on Bianchi in 2012, and the positives of signing him in place of Massa do not outweigh the negatives. Formula One is becoming increasingly difficult for rookies, after an era when it was becoming easier, so it may not be wise to throw the youngster into the deep end straight away. Bianchi may very well be a part of Ferrari's future, but the team will want to see him succeed in GP2 before graduating into Formula One with a smaller midfield outfit.

The team would much prefer a driver with some experience.

Mark Webber

Mark Webber said in a recent interview that he would like to finish his career with Red Bull, but "driving those red cars has always that that romantic attraction”. In no way does this mean Webber is looking to leave Red Bull for Ferrari next year, but it does mean that Mark knows he is close to the end of his career and any move to another team would be his last. A decision to leave Red Bull would be a big one for the Australian, and it would take something as significant as the lure of Ferrari to make it happen.

Webber would be a great for Ferrari in the same way that he is perfect for Red Bull - he is the ultimate number two driver. Ignoring his average performance in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Webber has always been very close to Vettel and is often just a few hundredths behind in qualifying. Mark puts huge pressure on Sebastian to keep performing without beating him outright and this is exactly what Red Bull is after. It means the team can focus their championship chances on the young German, but Webber is close enough to pick up the pieces if anything goes wrong (like he did at Silverstone and Hungary last year).

Ferrari believes the best way to win a world title is to focus on just one driver, and hiring Mark Webber would allow them to do just that. It's hard to say if Webber would do a better job than Felipe Massa, but over the course of 2010 he was definitely a much stronger driver. The big advantage that Webber would have over Felipe at Ferrari right now is that Massa knows he is the number two driver, and that seems to impact his motivation. Webber would go into the team with the intention of proving himself and would likely push Alonso harder than he is being pushed now. It’s also worth noting that Mark and Fernando have been good friends since their time together as Renault test drivers, so would be unlikely to experience any intra-team tensions.

Sebastian Vettel has a newfound confidence after winning the World Championship, and if he steamrolls his way to another title Webber will begin to feel like more of an outsider at Red Bull. If he chose to leave at the end of this year Mark’s only real options would be retirement, or a final swansong with Ferrari.

Planning for the future

Putting Webber in a Ferrari would also give the team a few years to develop Jules Bianchi. It would be ideal if the rookie could grow into Formula One with a small team, and earn some race experience, before joining the Scuderia. Bianchi could then spend several years learning from Fernando Alonso at Maranello before, perhaps, taking over the reigns as team leader himself. Ferrari introduced their young driver scheme last year to ensure they were prepared for the future, and this might be the sort of idea they have in mind.

If so, Mark Webber may just be Ferrari’s best option should they wish to find a replacement for Felipe Massa at the end of 2011.

Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

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