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slowmo on 18 March 2012
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Conegamer said:
slowmo said:
Conegamer said:
Rainbow Yoshi said:
So glad Jenson Button won the race when I thought it would be won by Lewis Hamilton. I think Sauber Ferrari have had a great start with 3rd in the constructor's and have chances of gaining podiums. Sergio Perez should replace Felipe Massa (unless Ferrari start doing consistently bad).

Massa should have won in 2008, not Hamilton IMO. He's never been the same since, and his accident the year after only compounded the issues.

I love Massa, I think he's great. Because I want him to win. But you're right. A new driver should have replaced him for this year.


The FIA tried to manufacture a title for Massa in 2008 and still couldn't make it stick.  The entire debacle in Spa that year was ridiculous, the FIA penalised him for a rule that he hadn't broken because it never stipulated how much advantage he had to concede back to Kimi.  That wasn't the only incident they manufactured point for Massa that year either.  Dont't get me wrong, I think he used to be a great driver but he knew after 2008 that he wasn't getting another chance at the title once Alonso showed up at Ferrarri.  I've already had a cheeky prediction that Kubica will be in Massa's seat for the end of the year.

I agree, but you also have to remember that Massa had some terrible luck, i.e. having to retire with 1 lap to go when in first, gifting Hamilton 12 more points than he would have got previously. Even without the fiasco at Spa, if had he lasted another 5 minutes he would have won by 6 points.

But yeah. He's never been the same. Especially consistantly 1 second slower than Alonso.

The big issue I have is that Massa lost points due to car issues which is part of the sport.  Hamilton lost points due to the FIA trying to fix a close championship (if not actually fix who won it too).  F1 is all about belief, if you look back to 2007-2009 Hamilton was on a different level to the majority of drivers.  In 2010 Mclaren had their second season on the trot with a car that wasn't the best in the field, then in 2011 it turned to three years with a car that wasn't in the title hunt.  Hamilton is suffering a bit like Massa too now imo, he's started losing some of that swagger and confidence that blind self belief gives a driver.  Hamilton from 2007-2009 wouldn't have rolled over and given in today like he did.

Hamilton is just lacking confidence but seems to have the attitude he needs to fix it, Massa just seems to have zero belief and confidence at the moment and I don't know how he can fix that, if he actually can.  At the end of the day, Massa can quit tomrrow with his head held high though imo, to even come back at the level he did after such a horrific mental and physical trauma speaks volumes of the man.