11x race winner picks Fernando Alonso over Michael Schumacher as the teammate he suffered a lot more against

Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa picked Fernando Alonso over Michael Schumacher as the teammate with whom he suffered the most. The Brazilian driver raced alongside two of the greatest F1 drivers admirably and won 11 times with the Scuderia.

Massa first joined the Italian team in 2006 and was the teammate to the seven-time world champion in the latter's final year with the team before his first retirement. Massa later became teammates with Alonso in Ferrari from 2010 to 2013 but remained second-best to him on most occasions.

While speaking to UOL Esporte, Felipe Massa spoke about his struggles against Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher and reflected (via Soy Motor):

“I think during that period, I suffered much more with Alonso than with Michael, for example, with Schumacher, it was a great situation in which Ferrari was investing a lot in a young driver like today, and he was in the final stretch of his career in Formula 1 and also at Ferrari."

"It's not easy, because you're racing against the number one, like Michael was at the time, and all the power that a driver like that has is very big within the team . If he decides to do something, the team will do it. Then, at work, it's not easy and sometimes you have to put up with some things that are not easy." he added.

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Felipe Massa reflects on his dynamics with Fernando Alonso as teammates

Felipe Massa hinted for the four years that he and Fernando Alonso were teammates at Ferrari when the Italian team had a difficult atmosphere inside the garage.

Speaking with Polish publication swiatwyscigow. pl in 2023, the former Williams F1 driver revealed how the Italian team was splitting due to his intense rivalry with Alonso.

He added (via PlanetF1):

“Yeah, yeah, for sure. First of all, he was an amazing driver, there’s nothing more you can say there. But it was quite difficult to work together inside the team. Actually, the team was splitting in the middle.

"And in the end, it was not good for the result of the team. And also, for me, I didn’t feel strong enough to work, to make the team listen to me. That was quite hard. But anyway, it was also some learning around as well.”

Massa failed to finish above Fernando Alonso in all four seasons in the driver's standings during their time as teammates at Ferrari. While the two-time world champion challenged for the title in 2010 and 2012 and finished runner-up again in 2013 to Sebastian Vettel, the Brazilian failed to win a race after his emotional 2008 Brazilian GP heartbreak.

He could only manage to finish at P6 in the standings in 2010 and 2011 but slipped back to P7 and P8 in 2012 and 2013, respectively.