The ease with which Lewis Hamilton pocketed the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday raised a few questions. And the dig one is: Have Ferrari lost their competitive edge?

However, it is only the first race of the season and Ferrari have been known to come back in the past; so I won't be reading too much into Ferrari’s slump. But speaking of Ferrari, Felipe Massa’s driving has always been suspect and the Australian Grand Prix has given us more damning evidence to question the Brazilian’s driving. 

Massa’s entry into Ferrari has an interesting tale to it. He had been a test driver with Ferrari in 2003 and after two more seasons with Sauber, Ferrari signed Massa as a driver for 2006. Interesting to note here that Nicolas Todt has been Massa’s manager since his early Formula 3000 Euro Series days. Todt is also Ferrari’s ex- team principal, Jean Todt’s son, and it is rumoured that it was the Todts’ influence rather than Massa’s abilities on the track that landed him a driver’s spot in Ferrari.

'Massa reminds me of Juan Pablo Montoya in more ways than one – impulsive and erratic but terrific racers on their day'


Massa has had two seasons with Ferrari: 2006 certainly would have been a lesson in Formula One from Michael Schumacher. But 2007, gave him enough opportunities to redeem himself which sadly he didn’t make full use of.

Massa’s biggest enemy is himself. His overtaking maneuver on David Coulthard in the 2008 Australian Grand Prix typified all that has been wrong with his  driving – stubbornness, under-performance and inconsistency. This stubbornness in refusing to play the patient game and constantly trying to do too much has cost him dear.

Massa is a great driver when in pole position – but the tough part is getting to pole position. And even when he does, there is certainly no guarantee that he is going to win you races. To reinforce my opinikon, let’s consider the statistics of the top five drivers in the years when they were at their competitive best:
                

Driver
 Starts
 Pole
Positions
 Wins in the races started from pole position
 Wins in races not started from pole position
                    
Finishes without points
 Total Wins
Michael Schumacher (2000-2006)
  123
      45
           31
          25
      2
    56
Fernando Alonso
(2003-2007)
   88
      17
           11
            8
      2
    19
Kimi Raikkonen
(2003-2007)
   88
      14
             5
         10
      3
    15
Felipe Massa
(2006-2007)
   35
        9
             5
          0
      4
      5

Does anyone else see it this way? Not only have the other drivers – Schumacher, Kimi Raikennon and Fernando Alonso - won as many races as those in which they have secured pole position, but they have also won races without having secured pole position.

So in effect, unless Massa gets into pole position, the pit crew might as well sit back and be assured that they won’t be hearing the Brazilian National Anthem that day.

In fact in the last two seasons alone, Kimi has two, Alonso five, and Michael five wins in spite of not having secured pole position. Massa has not been able to achieve the kind of results expected from a front line driver.

Massa reminds me of Juan Pablo Montoya in more ways than one – impulsive and erratic but terrific racers on their day. Massa seems unable to sustain his good driving for long stretches during a race, especially when he suffers a setback early in the race pushing him down the order. 

Massa tries far too hard early on and gives up almost as if driving only to complete the race (Bahrain, Monaco, Italy, Hungary 2006 and Hungary 2007, Australia 2008). And hence the last column makes such dismal reading – more finishes without scoring, in only two seasons, than most drivers in as much as seven season.

Meanwhile drivers such as Raikennon, Alonso and of course Schumacher, have revelled under such circumstances. Japan 2005, where Kimi won the race from 17th on the grid, and the epic Brazilian Grand Prix of 2006 where Michael showed the world his true class. Alonso too has had his moments of greatness such as the Australian Grand Prix of 2008.

The Australian Grand Prix showed why Hamilton is certainly going to be the next Schumacher and it also showed the never-say-die attitude which champions like Alonso possess.

Whether Ferrari made a mistake in choosing Massa as a driver and retaining him for so long is subjective, but I hope for Massa’s sake and more importantly Ferrari’s sake, that Felipe can search deep inside himself and find the strength to fight his own demons. Massa needs to resurrect himself by correcting his mistakes, before Ferrari correct theirs.