Ferrari and Felipe - time to say goodbye?

Once quipped the greatest-ever Formula 1 team, Ferrari have now sunk into the abyss of being content with 3^rd in the Constructor’s – and that position may further fall this season due to the resurgence of Lotus and Mercedes.

All the teams in the competition have two drivers who are equally competent and talented – McLaren have Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull have Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, and why ignore the less glamorous teams? Even the likes of Sauber and Williams have two drivers who can both perform equally well in the form of Kobayashi-Perez and Maldonad-Senna respectively. The former’s two drivers are separated in the standings by a mere 3 points.

Shifting the magnifying glass to Ferrari, they figure as the team with the most extremely-placed two drivers. Fernando Alonso, who has been carrying the team on his shoulders for 2 seasons already now, stands equal on points with Sebastian Vettel at the top of the standings, turning out good performances even in the much-criticised F2012. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa, who has not been his true self since that horrific accident in Hungary, stands in a sub-par position of 17^th,with a meager tally of two points only.

This widening gap between the points’ contribution of the two drivers and the increasing reliance of the team on the Spaniard has resulted in the Italian giants sitting in 4^th place in the Constructor’s championship, 21 points behind the 3^rd placed team of Lotus while having a 46-point deficit on the pace-setters in Red Bull. Alonso has won the Malaysian GP and finished second in his home race of Spain while Massa, in sharp contrast, has had to retire from the Australian GP and managed to finish only once inside the top ten – a 9^th placed finish at Bahrain, a track in which two seasons ago he finished 2^nd behind his teammate Alonso.

Yes, Ferrari typically have always favoured one driver – usually the more speedy and dominant of the two – and yes, they have showed a tad higher liking to Alonso than the Brazilian, but never have they had such a big gap between their two drivers. Schumacher was always preferred over Barrichello but even in 2003, when the infamous team-orders-gate occurred, Barrichello finished a respectable 4^th in the Driver’s Standings, just 28 points off the pace, as his German teammate clinched top honours and Ferrari took home the Constructor’s.

This has led to allegations that Ferrari are on the hunt for a new driver as Massa’s contract expires in just 9 months; Mark Webber is a name making the rounds, and a comeback for Raikkonen is also not totally off the cards. Yet, Ferrari have come out in full support of the 11-time race winner with team principal Stefano Domenicali and teammate Fernando Alonso both voicing their backing of the under-performing Massa.

“I know that he has [pressure on him] but he needs to be focused really on his driving and we need to help him on that.” – Stefano Domenicali

The Brazilian will be hoping that Monaco will be some sort of a turning point for his season, his record at Monte Carlo is relatively good – he finished 4th for two years consecutively in 2010 and 2009 and clinched a podium position in 2008. The only blemish is his retirement from the race last year. If Massa’s fortunes do not change, despite the public voices of support, he may well be driving his last season in a Ferrari car.