Will Massa's ego haunt him at the end of 2007?

freud · 14 Mar 2007, 00:48 (Ref:1866069)

During Sauber days Massa was known as the quiet & humble kid in the pit.. immersed upon improving his driving skill and capability. He carried that aura upon arrival into the Ferrari camp.. until he had the first win over Michael. Slowly we started to see a different Massa. He would comment publicly on the set-up of his car and that his tyres werent working perfectly on a particular sector. He became more and more outspoken towards the end of the last season. After the tremendously emotional win at Interlagos, it was quite clear to those whom it mattered..

'Massa had arrived'.

And this was beginning of the 'new Massa'... the ultra-confident, extrovert, winner who is ready to take F1 by storm. And his recent statements to the press have kept up this image.

One recent example is following statement regarding Kimi's behaviour outside F1:

"In a world like ours, where there are famous people, the media can often exaggerate or even make things up," Ferrari driver Massa, 25, told the Rio de Janeiro-based newspaper O Globo.

Massa said Raikkonen is a "good" driver... "He will be fast and fight for victories, but I hope to be in front of him more often than he is in front of me."

This is just one statement amongst hundreds that he has given to the press (both european as well as south american) in regards to his 'battle for the title' with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Kimi, on the other hand, is quietly ignoring Massa to the point of utter self-confidence.. someone who knows he'll thrash Massa once two of them are together on the tarmac.

I really think Massa's inflated ego might haunt him at the end of the season. The kid should really calm down a bit and face things as they come.

Just my 0.2.. Enjoy the race at melbourne

Marbot · 14 Mar 2007, 00:58 (Ref:1866075)

I'm not sure that any of those statements are revealing of a man with an ego?

They are however revealing of a man with not much to say........err,Kimi that is.

locco · 14 Mar 2007, 01:13 (Ref:1866078)

massa's ferrari is quicker than him, I don't think it'll be the same with kimi though. He won races last season, because the car was that good, well he did a good job too , but I really don't think he'll be a title contender, not this season atleast. I read on the ITV website, that martin brundle thinks that kimi doesn't wanna show massa how fast he is during testing, and I have the same feeling. That or he's just too lazy to go all out in testing. :P

1200Datto27 · 14 Mar 2007, 01:17 (Ref:1866079)

What do people expect of the guy? He's gone head to head with the best of the current generation of drivers and proven himself to be capable of beating them in a straight fight, now he has a new team mate with a possible question mark over how well he'll go, and Massa is supposed to lay down and concede the No. 1 status to him? I don't think so. Good on Massa for having faith in his abilities, and wanting to prove them, rather than just moping about everything as some other drivers do.

senna12 · 14 Mar 2007, 01:43 (Ref:1866089)

Quote:

Originally Posted by freud

Just my 0.2.. Enjoy the race at melbourne

Well, with the size of your post, perhaps it really is your .2 worth!!

I think his victories last season gave him the push he needed. Any driver who can beat Mikey straight up in the same car can't be all bad.
A lot of people seem to think that Kimi's not showing everything yet, well we're going to find out soon enough.

neilap · 14 Mar 2007, 01:54 (Ref:1866091)

Maybe Kimmi's silence is his lack of confidence! Massa has not said anything more than that he "hopes" to beat his teammate. In fact I think he should have said he "intends" to beat his teammate. Athletes must believe, not hope!

deejay · 14 Mar 2007, 02:06 (Ref:1866096)

Another season, another freud bashing Massa thread.

SkaifeHRT · 14 Mar 2007, 02:59 (Ref:1866109)

Quote:

Originally Posted by freud

Just my 0.2.. Enjoy the race at melbourne

0.2 is 20 cents, not 2 cents which would be .02

Bullett · 14 Mar 2007, 03:21 (Ref:1866116)

There might not be evidence of an ego in either of those comments but he got a gig with Ferrari, then took wins...it would be hard not to have an ego now. I know I would. We will have to wait until Sunday to have a real idea of who's better on race day, for mine I hope Kimi can spank Massa this year.

neilap · 14 Mar 2007, 04:31 (Ref:1866132)

...not a Kimmi fan here.
I do know he can be incredibly quick though. I think the odds are against Massa. I would not underestimate Massa though. Confidence can make a huge difference in a racer. If he starts the season well, even if Kimmi beats him in the first race, I think he can still come around as long as its not pure pace that he lacks compared to Kimmi.

300kph · 14 Mar 2007, 04:39 (Ref:1866136)

I think Massa is doing fine being the most talkative among the two, besides, he has reasons to be in upbeat mode.

I think Kimi will be his better yard stick, not MS, and if he can beat Kimi on track, then he is really a very good driver ( maybe a brazillian david coulthard )..... keep talking Massa...

neilap · 14 Mar 2007, 04:53 (Ref:1866139)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 300kph

( maybe a brazillian david coulthard )..... keep talking Massa...

Kieran20 · 14 Mar 2007, 08:00 (Ref:1866204)

i dont think massa has an ego as you say he has. all drivers comment on the car etc, and he is speaking the truth, and what he wants when he is saying he would like to be infornt of kimi next year. of course he would, thats what every driver wants, so whats wrong with that? massa is growing in confidence, and i persoanlly think he is very quick in that ferrari, he gave michael a few worries last year in qualy, and he dominated turkey and brazil.

we will have to wait this season. its too early to tell as he would have obviously been held back by ferrari last year, but now he can go flat out to win with out having to help schumy win the championship.

mac · 14 Mar 2007, 10:14 (Ref:1866326)

Quote:

Originally Posted by freud

I really think Massa's inflated ego might haunt him at the end of the season. The kid should really calm down a bit and face things as they come.

What are you talking about?

Plenty of people in Melbourne town reckon Massa is the favourite for the title.

It is accepted among rival teams that Ferrari are significantly ahead of the pack at the moment.

FPV GTHO · 14 Mar 2007, 10:38 (Ref:1866338)

I think Massa and Kimi have both become victims of one coming off a strong season, and one coming off a poor season. Go back to 2005, and Kimi was still equal to Alonso, and Massa was still overly erratic. Now, people think Alonso is heads and shoulders above Kimi, whilst Massa is perhaps ahead of Kimi also. Massa IMO has always made passing comments which shows he's got alot of self confidence. I dont think too much has changed there. I think the ego of some of his fans is becoming a little bloated though.

shambles · 14 Mar 2007, 10:41 (Ref:1866342)

Ego?

Where?

On the subject of the Ferrari battle, however much I like Massa and would want him to win the WDC (and he's one of my favourites), I really don't think he stands a chance against Raikkonen.

Fuel corrected, Massa was one of the poorest qualifiers amongst the top six last season; and although he won two races I'd suggest that was more down to Michael's problems rather than some genius from Felipe.

A forumer on another forum I post on quite regularly, made the point; "if Massa hadn't won in Turkey or Brazil, would this hype still be surrounding him?"

Sure, Massa topped the testing time sheets, but how many times have we seen inconclusive evidence from testing?

I really hope he hammers Kimi... he just won't.

BootsOntheSide · 14 Mar 2007, 11:31 (Ref:1866371)

Don't forget that Massa was ahead of Michael on merit in Turkey when Michael had to stack in the pits though. After the first few races Felipe was a careful and impressive driver, and it's far from a foregone conclusion that Kimi can beat him. Testing so far has been in Massa's favour, and while it's possible that the team are running Kimi heavier, there's no indication of this from within the team. Unlikely that they would falsely build Massa's status by making him apper faster than Kimi, especially given his erratic past.

**Bononi** · 14 Mar 2007, 11:40 (Ref:1866377)

Oh... I guess the right quote is :

Freud has arrived !

BTW, I saw Massa's interview yesterday, and I'm sure you didn't read all to the last line... and that phrase was taken out of the context uhn ?? And even though, there's no "ego" to be shown there, to the contrary, he's down to earth as he always been.

Massa's interview

In the other videos he speaks about Kimi and the championship, and TGF whom he speaks after each training and sessions.

RT · 14 Mar 2007, 16:30 (Ref:1866542)

As I remember, Felipe Massa once refused team orders or something to that effect whan he was at Sauber and N. Heidfeld was the team-mate. I don't believe Massa has ever lacked a huge amount of self confifdence. He has only been bidding his time.

This is his season to prove it and avoid being the new Rubens. He's fast enough to beat anyone, he partnered Schumi at Ferrari and can put up with enormous pressuer. The Kimster has only one thing for him and is outright raw speed. He needs to bring it back before Massa's confidence becomes an unsurmountable barrier.

f1manoz · 14 Mar 2007, 17:02 (Ref:1866556)

Considering Kimi is usually as silent as a corpse, I'm not surprised we've only heard Massa in the media. And I'm not surprised that the kid is now rather confident and extroverted - he's got race wins and pole positions to his name now, he pushed MS quite a number of times very easily last year and this year must go into the season thinking he has a real chance of a title.

I don't think it's ego. Every driver is confident. Whether it's misplaced confidence is another matter. Can he beat Kimi? Some days he will, some he won't. But I don't expect either to dominate the other.

Knowlesy · 14 Mar 2007, 17:31 (Ref:1866570)

You may not enjoy this season freud, keep your TV switched off every other Sunday.

I don't see any ego with Massa. The guy is a GP winner and will surely carry some confidence now. In the past he seemed quiet, a little unsure of himself. But I don't think he has got egotistical, just a bit more sure of himself.

The team seem to like him anyways.

Kebab · 14 Mar 2007, 17:41 (Ref:1866580)

Kimi will show his class when it matters - in qualifying and in the race. Massa will regret the things he's saying pre-season (I think he already is as he seems to be back-tracking).

Having said that, who wins will be up to Ferrari so who knows.

Kieran20 · 14 Mar 2007, 17:43 (Ref:1866583)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kebab

Kimi will show his class when it matters - in qualifying and in the race. Massa will regret the things he's saying pre-season (I think he already is as he seems to be back-tracking).

Having said that, who wins will be up to Ferrari so who knows.

i cant see what he will regret, even if kimi does a better job. saying he hopes to be infront of kimim cant be something to regret, as this is obvious and he speaks his mind.

i think we need to wait till this weekend to really comment.

Knowlesy · 14 Mar 2007, 17:47 (Ref:1866584)

Of course, if he had said "I reckon I'll be behind Kimi..."

"MASSA ADMITS DEFEAT SHAME! SCOOP!"

Kieran20 · 14 Mar 2007, 17:51 (Ref:1866585)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Of course, if he had said "I reckon I'll be behind Kimi..."

"MASSA ADMITS DEFEAT SHAME! SCOOP!"

precisely

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