Massa says Ferrari have a lot of work to do

Felipe Massa has admitted that Ferrari have 'a lot to do' after their unsatisfactory weekend in Melbourne - suggesting there was a major difference between how the car had performed in difficult and how it had fared during the grand prix.

Ferrari looked like Red Bull's closest challenger through the winter, but in Australia they were leapfrogged by McLaren

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Fernando Alonso and Massa were only fifth and eighth on the grid, and fourth in seventh in the race.

"The Australian Grand Prix did not go the way for my part and the team had predictable, as we were not as competitive as we had thought we would be, based on the winter performance," Massa admitted in a blog on the Ferrari website.

"If there is one lesson we take away with us after the gap round is that we have a lot of work to do.

"We immediately need to find out exactly what happened in Australia, understanding what we did and what the other teams did.

"We did not come away with as many points as we thought we could score in the first race, so we have to get back to where we want to be by the next race."

He was puzzled by why Ferrari had under performed in Australia and keen that the team rediscover their testing form by Sepang next weekend.

"Our car is better than it looked in Melbourne and it is hard to clarify exactly why we failed to deliver, which is why we have to arrive in Malaysia with the car we really built, not the car we raced last weekend," said Massa.

The Brazilian also admitted that Red Bull's pace had come as a shock to him, as Sebastian Vettel took pole by 0.8s and then forbidden the race from the outset.

"I was asked many times over last weekend what astonished me most, the pace of the Red Bulls or of the McLarens," Massa said.

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Alonso rates his F1 rivals

Alonso was asked by Spanish paper AS to give his view on his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, current World Champion Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton as well seven-time Champion Michael Schumacher.

Two-time Champion Alonso described Vettel as follows: "Very fast. Very fast and accurate. If he starts first in a race it is hard to stop him."

Mark Webber, who finished third in the Drivers' Championship last year is "experienced, calm and reliable. It is very difficult to see him fail."

Alonso believes his former McLaren team-mate Hamilton is "a great driver and one of the fastest of the present Formula One grid" while Button "has a great nature for difficult races in the rain or with the safety car in the dry".

As for Schumacher, Alonso says "he is the champion, we all respect him and he is a driver able of surprising".

And his views on his team-mate Massa?

"Very quickly, he knows the team, he ongoing with Sauber, but is now with Ferrari and very hungry to win."

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Alonso samples the F150 at Fiorano

Fernando Alonso (ESP) puts the fresh Ferrari F150 through its paces for the first time. Ferrari F150 First Run, Fiorano, Italy, 28 January 2011. Fernando Alonso (ESP) puts the new Ferrari F150 through its paces for the first time. Ferrari F150 First Run, Fiorano, Italy, 28 January 2011. Fernando Alonso (ESP) puts the new Ferrari F150 through its paces for the first time. Ferrari F150 First Run, Fiorano, Italy, 28 January 2011.

Fresh from its start on, Ferrari’s 2011 car hit the track for the very first time in Italy on Friday afternoon, for promotional filming purposes. The honour of putting the F150 through its debut paces at the Italian team’s Fiorano test circuit was bestowed on Fernando Alonso.

The car was obtainable to the world’s media during a glitzy launch at Ferrari's Maranello factory on Friday morning. Alonso was in attendance, alongside team mate Felipe Massa, team principal Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo and numerous other Maranello dignitaries.

Alonso will hand over the F150 to Massa on Saturday, who will take a turn in front of members of the team’s fan club. Debut runs over, the real test work will then start in Spain next week, with both the Brazilian and the Spaniard expected in action during the first authorized pre-season session of the year at Valencia from February 1-3. 

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Wrooom finishes with a stunning exhibition

Ducati Team riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden faced Scuderia Ferrari F1 stars Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in an ice-race on the final day of the Wrooom Press Meeting.

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden connected Ferrari’s Formula 1 drivers for a stunning exhibition on Madonna di Campiglio’s frozen lake in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 5,000 people.

“This week has been a fantastic event, and the races at the end were a lot of fun,” said Valentino. “In the end, I determined to take part because the atmosphere here at Wrooom was so fantastic, and because the fans deserved it. I got a few jolts from the holes, but nothing too bad. It was value it.”

"This was my third Wrooom, and I believe it was the best one yet," echoed Nicky Hayden. "It seems like they just make it better every year. They really treat us good, and we make a lot of friends, and it’s great to see them each year. This is a great way to kick things off, but there’s been sufficient talking about everything now. It’s time to get out there and do the real thing. I look forward to it."

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Rossi to be unveiled in Ducati colours at Wrooom 2011

Ducati’s 2011 MotoGP project will be formally presented this week at Madonna di Campiglio, with the celebration of the customary Wrooom event. The gathering, which takes place at the Italian ski resort at the turn of each new year, will offer media and fans a first detection of Valentino Rossi in Ducati red as the Italian joins team-mate Nicky Hayden for the week-long programme.

The riders, guests and media will arrive on Monday evening after which a busy schedule will begin. On Tuesday morning both Hayden and Rossi will be the focus of concentration as they field questions from the gathered press in person press conferences, following which they will pretense for photographs with Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi and then meet fans.

Then on Wednesday it will be the turn of Claudio Domenicali, boss of Ducati Corse, to answer enquiries about the new GP11 prototype after which the 2011 machine will be unveiled. Joining the MotoGP riders during the week will be Scuderia Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who will be on hand to present the Italian Formula 1 team’s 2011 car.

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Qualifying - Vettel takes vital Yas Marina pole

Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position after lapping his Red Bull in 1m 39.394s. But the most important qualifying session of the year was a major disappointment for the team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place in 1m 39.925s and will be separated from Vettel by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Earlier, Hamilton had been fortunate to avoid the contact with Felipe Massa when, after a big slide on his first lap in Q2, he’d had to back off the pace and resumed just as the Ferrari was alongside. The former champion walloped a camera pole, but his McLaren did not sustain any damage and he recovered his momentum brilliantly to lap second quickest before his time eventually left him fifth in that session.

He already held second place as Q3 drew to its close, but trimmed his time down to 1m 39.425s to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday. Alonso’s late improvement was bad news for Webber. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 39.792s to jump to third, ahead of Button on 1m 39.823s.

Webber will share row three with Massa, who lapped his F10 in 1m 40.202s, while Williams’ Rubens Barrichello’s 1m 40.203s left him seventh ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg on 1m 40.516s and 1m 40.589s respectively. Like Massa, both suffered in late-session traffic. Vitaly Petrov was 10th for Renault, with 1m 40.901s.

Vettel redefined the ante in Q2 with the fastest lap of the weekend thus far in 1m 39.874s, ahead of the revitalised Button, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton. Further back, Robert Kubica surprisingly failed to make Q3, taking 11th place behind team mate Petrov with 1m 40.780s in a Renault that still seemed not to be running as well as it did on Friday.

Fernando Alonso has F1 title in his own hands

Fernando Alonso has the championship lead on his side as he aims to clinch the Formula One (F1) world title in a historic finale Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

But in a season of roller-coaster rides for all the stars, Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton are also in the frame.

It is the first time in F1 history that four drivers are in the title race ahead of the season-ender.

A simple engine failure in Alonso's Ferrari could for instance open the door for the others, he may be shunted off the track by another driver, make a mistake himself or have yet another negative experience with the safety car as has happened already three times this season.

However, Alonso has a third career title in his own hands as championship leader. He has amassed 246 points from 18 of 19 races, with Webber on 238, Vettel on 231 and Hamilton on 222.

Under the current system, the top 10 drivers get points in a 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 format.

Alonso has done his maths and says 'I just need to finish second. It does not matter who wins in Abu Dhabi if I finish second'.

The Spaniard can also afford third place if Webber does not win, and fourth or fifth if Webber and Vettel do not win.

Webber will secure the trophy if he wins and Alonso comes no better than third. A team order of sorts may be used if Vettel leads from Webber and Alonso in the final lap, as Ferrari also ordered Felipe Massa to let Alonso pass for victory at the German GP.

Massa: Monza won’t be easy

Felipe Massa has predicted that the Italian Grand Prix next weekend won't be an easy home race for the Ferrari as it seeks to bounce back from a difficult weekend in the Belgium.

While Massa managed to take a fourth place finish in the event, team-mate Fernando Alonso crashed out, which saw Ferrari lose ground in both the title races.

That has left the Italian team even more on the back foot as it heads into its home race at Monza – which marks the conclusion of the European season – and Massa admitted that it wasn't going to be easy after the disappointment suffered at the Spa.

“In terms of the result and in terms of the championship and the points total for Ferrari, it was not enough,” he said. “It was not what I expected, or what the team had hoped for, given the fact that in Spa, the car was not as competitive as it had been in the two previous races in the Hungary and Germany.

“On Friday, we had looked very strong, while we were less so on Saturday and Sunday, so maybe our competitors did not show their full potential on the first day. This meant the whole weekend was more difficult than we expected.”

“It will be a great event, racing in front of our tifosi, but the reality is that it will be a very important race, because after the less that the satisfactory performance in Belgium, the championship is not looking so easy for us. We need to keep pushing for the last six races, trying to be back in the fight for wins or at least as many podiums as possible.

Ferrari not worried Massa will leave

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is not worried that the Felipe Massa may turn his back on the outfit in the wake of the team orders controversy.

Although Rubens Barrichello famously ended his Ferrari contract one year early because he was fed up of being treated as a number of the two, Domenicali said in Hungary that he reckoned Massa would view the situation much in differently.

"No, no, I don't think so," he said when asked about the possibility of the Massa becoming disillusioned with the situation. "No, I don't think so because Felipe, as I said, we have always been very happy about Felipe.

"We were helping on the personal side, on the professional side, we are proud of him and we don't change our view. I think that the philosophy of his life is really part of our spirit and we respect that and I think that he also respects [that] too.

"At this moment, when you are surrounded by a lot of people that are pushing you, friends, real friends, friends that are not real friends, people that are saying to you something and when you turn your back they say the opposite. It's normal that you react with this kind of the energy.

"It's important that this energy has to be not negative, but it has to be the positive, positive for him, because that's part of the game, very positive for him once again, as I said, but also positive for the team, because that was also on his statement, so honestly I don't think it so."

Domenicali also reckoned that Ferrari had been unfairly criticised for its treatment of Massa in Hockenheim - especially considering the faith it had put in the Brazilian during earlier stages of his career.

"No one more than Ferrari has supported the Felipe, every time, all the time," he said. "As I said, we go back to short memories. A couple of races ago, a lot of people in this room were pushing us to say what's it all about, what is happening and we always said, no, no, Felipe's a great driver, he's a great man, for sure he wants to win it because what we want and we want to see him as part of the team because we are feeling for him.

"So no one can say Ferrari has done anything to Felipe. We always support him, we feel a lot for him. I don't want to follow this because I don't think it is correct and I don't want that the people have short memories, because that is wrong, in life and in sport."

Massa: Poor first half spurs me on

Felipe Massa admits he is not at all happy with how the first half of the season and has gone for him, but says in recent setbacks have given him fresh motivation to turn his fortunes around.

The Brazilian started the year solidly, taking two podium finishes in the first two races and briefly holding the championship lead, but has not all scaled the rostrum since and has been overshadowed by Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso.

After failing to score points in the past three rounds and then slumping to eighth in the standings, Massa feels he is overdue a change of his luck.

“For sure I'm not happy,” he said in an interview with the Ferrari’s website ahead of the German Grand Prix.

“The beginning of the season was not like that I expected. The first two races were okay – we got two podiums – and then we didn't have a good races, especially in the last three.

“When you have three races in a row where something happens in the race and you cannot finish or score the points, and you go from being in a good position to then suddenly being last because something has happened, these things are not nice.

“That was the case in Canada because of the accident at the first corner, in Valencia because of the safety car, and at Silverstone where I had a tyre issue and went from fifth to completely last.

“These things are not nice but they give me even more motivation to keep pushing and I’m looking for a good result in the next race.”

Current team	Ferrari
Nationality	Brazilian
Date of Birth	born 25 April 1981
Car #	7
Races	126 (124 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	11
Podiums	30
Career points	387
Pole positions	15
Fastest laps	12
First race	2002 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2006 Turkish Grand Prix
Last win	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race	2010 British Grand Prix
2009 position	11th (22 pts)