F1 Half Term Report: Rate the Grid - Felipe Massa

[Paul Jeffrey]

Retired then unretired, not much can keep a good man down as Felipe Massa has very much proven this season, performing admirably for Williams heading into his 264th race weekend.

The ever fresh Brazilian has proven year in year out that his speed and race craft remain undiminished, however with his status as an elder statesman of Grand Prix racing evolving into a teaching role alongside Williams youngster Lance Stroll, Massa appears to have really stepped up his game and team play during 2017.

Acting as team leader for a recovering Williams Mercedes team, Massa has proven once again to be a safe pair of hands in the Martini backed car, rarely finding himself off track through driver error and leading the training of his young and inexperienced team mate Stroll.

If Massa still retains the speed shown during his title fighting year with Hamilton in 2008 remains unknown, however the question over if Massa still deserves his seat in Formula One must remain a resounding yes.

Will 2017 be the final hurrah for the Brazilian favourite, or can the 36 year old do enough to prove he deserves another year at the pinnacle of open wheel motorsport?

Vote now to tell us how you rate the first half of 2017 for Felipe Massa, and leave a comment below!

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[Wedge]

he's doing his job as usual, on the limit of the car. he scored points for williams on almost every race, which is basically saving the team this season. voted 7 but maybe should have voted 8.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

He's a talented driver who always exceeds the limits of the car. To be frank, I give him 8.
Note: I'm the 50th voter

 

[Coffer]

8.5, voted 9. Most improved driver on the grid by a country mile, though after being the worst driver in 2016 of the ones who are still racing in 2017, such an improvement was probably inevitable. One of the top 5 drivers so far this season, with only Vettel being convincingly better and the others largely being on par with him. Bahrain in particular was one of his best races in years.

These new regulations seem to suit him much better than the previous ones, and without his extreme bad luck with being taken out by other drivers or car failures when he least needed them (such as at Baku where he could've legitimately won), he would definitely be the highest scoring driver outside of the Merc/Ferrari/RB trio. Unfortunately for him, his luck is coming back just as the car is starting to get worse and worse, and I don't see him scoring many more points by the end of the year.

If he maintains this form, Williams would do well to keep him for at least another year. He's a good mentor for Stroll, who is definitely still at that stage in his career where he needs guidance in order to unlock his potential, just as Massa himself was over a decade ago.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Solid but not special

 

[James Cook]

Class drivers rarely lose their touch. He's doing what he can with an inconsistent car.

 

[TobiasR]

Seems to always get the maximum out of the car in quali this year. Great to see him having his 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) spring.

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

Massa is still good and he's doing a good job, terrible luck (Russia, Spain, Baku and Canada) isn't helping his results.

Williams seems to be struggling to develop this car so there's no telling how the second half of the season may go.

 

[Jan Larsen]

7. Usually gets everything out of the car that isnt good to begin with, but has also had a few woopsie races. First few races where excellent, then solid performances coupled with a few not so good. One of the few drivers with experience from the golden era of 2000-2004, so the physics requirements of 2017 shouldnt be a surprise to him and has probably been an advantage for him in the beginning of the season. Improved from 2016 and generally solid throughout this season.

 

[Klodian Stafa]

maybe has lost a bit of his talent but he is still good for williams and caming back from retirement was a good decision by him

he has a difficult job to "train" stroll too who knows stroll may became a great driver with a team mate like massa

 

[wombat999]

5. The usual performance delivery in a less than stellar car.
Mixed emotions as to whether he should have returned or not.
Massa has always been good number 2, but never a team leader.

 

[M-Bimmer]

Solid 7 he is here to cover up and earn some and he is better than last season somehow.

 

[Andrew Harper]

I'm biased slightly as he earned my respect in 2008 and the championship showdown, since then I've been a supporter of his career.

I feel he suffered badly in the "look after your tyres" years and in 2016 that didn't allow him to push as much as he would have liked. If you have a car that's gentle on it's tyres it makes life easier of course but the combination of his attacking style and the need to be gentle on the car just didn't help. 2014 and the year of the sticky Pirelli was perfect for him.

The 2017 cars with their endless tyres and tonnes of downforce are back to what he loves driving and I saw after the first few tests he was really looking forward to the year ahead.

He's done the business for Williams this year whilst Stroll finds his feet, and in some races he was under huge pressure from faster cars. It's very tough to break into that top six if all the top cars are running well. Instances like Baku don't come along often unfortunately.

He could have won in Baku but for the suspension failure so that was a real shame but he's still a safe pair of hands and is getting the results for the team. My only worry is the development of the car and if Williams can stay in that top six. The car still seems to lack some mechanical grip but has good aero so hopefully Spa and Monza will be kind to him

Scored him as an 8 but it's tricky with the car blowing a little hot and cold at the moment

 

[Lorenzo Bonder]

If I could I'd rate Massa's year, I'd rate 8.5 (I'll rate 8) because he's managed to pull some unthinkable stuff with a inconsistent car this year, plus that Baku race man, he got stolen after that massive clustertruck.

Retain him for 2018 as the Williams car got a new aero project and let's see how he'll do.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Only 13 comments for Massa (14 now)? Really? I would have thought a bloke of his experience and time in the sport (plus having come back from a Mansell esq retirement period) would've / could've / should've rated more comments than this...

For me I'll vote 7. I respect Massa the man, I rate Massa the driver and I feel over the season he usually works out above average. If he had more of his "good" days then he'd be a massive talent, just too much bad luck and too many "anonymous" weekends to be a true big name talent, sadly.

 

[Test Osterone]

Only 13 comments for Massa (14 now)? Really? I would have thought a bloke of his experience and time in the sport (plus having come back from a Mansell esq retirement period) would've / could've / should've rated more comments than this...

Controversy is usually what gets most people talking (that or mass hysteria with Alonso). Massa is the first noncontroversial entry on the list - he's been good this year, with only his bad luck really standing out as a negative factor as he hasn't made many mistakes (Spain is the only arguable one and even then if he hadn't run into Alonso he would've been taken out by Raikkonen, so it's a racing incident). There just isn't much to say about his performance besides that.

 

[Sky]

i couldn't think of anything silly to say.

its massa. everyone likes him and he's a competent driver.