What Does Felipe Massa Feel On Mattia Binotto’s Ouster?

Felipe Massa was at his peak during the 2007 until the 2010 Formula 1 world championship seasons. Of the many qualities he brought to this famous Scuderia Ferrari stable including consistency and speed, one of the factors that arguably speaking made him stand his ground was straightforwardness.

One of the reasons why this isn’t a random claim but perhaps a valid argument is that he called the right shot by suggesting that during the Raikkonen and Alonso pairing in 2014, the former would find himself outperformed by the latter.

In the end, what the Brazilian driver suggested is what actually transpired; Kimi found himself against a pitiable stack of 55 points in comparison to Fernando’s 161 points, which was a gathering to be reckoned with especially given the fact that the car that year wasn’t the finest by any stretch of the imagination.

Now, though he might have retired a while back from the sport, it doesn’t mean that Felipe Massa has retired or retreated from offering his views on the current standing of Formula 1.

Which is why the widely experienced former racing driver from the famous Ayrton Senna-land has offered a critical appreciation of why Ferrari axed Mattia Binotto, the team principal who lasted until the completion of the 2022 F1 season.

And though the views are his, it ought to be said that they may not exactly be on point or indicate the actual nature of events that took place at Maranello for the team to have arrived at the stance that it has taken. For it goes without saying, Massa is just stating his opinion on what happened; he wasn’t the Ferrari insider when the Mattia Binotto decision was taken.

Having said that, the following is what the winner of 11 F1 Grands Prix had to say on the subject of the bespectacled former team leader:

“You could see that there was confusion inside. It was normal that in the end Mattia paid for these mistakes: very good, talented technician but the result did not arrive and his exit was not a surprise”

“In my eight years in Maranello I have seen everything, successes and difficult moments. Kimi Raikkonen won in 2007, I almost in 2008, then Ferrari never managed to have a winning car. Between aerodynamics, engine, strategy, drivers, something is always missing to complete the work”

For sure, Ferrari haven’t really been at their vehement best by any stretch of the imagination in the recent years having failed to lift a single title in this current turbo-hybrid era of F1. But having said that, what remains to be seen is whether a title can soon come to the team made famous by the German genius of Michael Schumacher.

Perhaps it pinches – and endlessly so- the die hard Ferrari supporter that no one since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 has been able to pick a single world title. Let us see what difference can the experienced team leader Fred Vasseur, a figurehead of sorts can bring to Ferrari starting 2023 onwards!

Massa partnered Kimi back in the 2007 season, the last that a Ferrari driver picked a world title in motorsport’s top flight!