I feel kind of ambivalent about this too. I agree with AG that Massa's flashes of brilliance aren't really enough. I find myself wanting him to do better but I'd also like to see someone new have a chance in the Ferrari.
A good drive from the back from Massa today, but a poor qualifying perfromance on Saturday was only saved by some fortunately timed SC's, fantastic overtake on Senna, but it could quite easily have ended his race. I might revise my opinion on whether he desrve to be in F1 IF he can keep racing like that, but previous form says he'll qualify poorly again and fail to get points in one of the best cars. coming from the back after an SC and beating slower cars isn't much to crow about tbh, once he starts to mix it with drivers in cars with the same sort of performance his has he'll be beaten again. He doesn't seem to have racing stamina anymore, when he is near the front at the start of races he just drops away. Has he saved his Ferrari career? I don't know, makes a good 'test bed' for Alonso, which is probably all Ferrari want, so that's a big positive for another year, as they aren't that interested in the WCC, it's all about the WDC, would be interesting to see how he fares in a midfield team against a different team-mate.
I'd love for him to find his form and save his seat, but he's not done near enough to do that and Ferrari would be better served with a new #2. Didn't Ferrari recently let an option to retain him for next season expire?
OK, time for a change of heart. Massa has been better than Alonso for the last few races, out qualified him and out-raced him AFAIC, only team-orders have prevented him outscoring Alonso lately.
Massa can't start next season like he did this though. If he's over a second off the pace while Hulk's in a Sauber I'll go mad. He's been awesome recently though, especially the last two races and Korea.
If he can start next season the way he ended this season, he's going to give Ferrari a major headache. As Miggins said, he's been better than Alonso these past few races, they've needed team orders to keep him behind. If Felipe is driving well next season, what do Ferrari do, especially with the Vettel rumours going around.
Yum yum yum... will Alonso throw his toys out of the pram again with a Massa resurgence? Massa was a whole different beast before his head injury, after years of psychological help it seems they have cracked the code to his brain to drive on his instinct. If the Massa of old can take it to Schumacher and Kimi, he can take it to Alonso. Cant wait for 2013!
I'd like to echo the recent comments; particularly those from Miggins. On his day, Massa is (almost) a match for the best. But we should not pretend that these days are sufficiently frequent. I like this guy! Passion is mostly admirable and Massa surely has as much as anyone out there. But passion often involves big swings if it is not also moderated with consistency; and this is where the weakness lies… I wish him the very best of luck. Equally, I wish he could show that he is a genuine threat to Alonso, as well as all others…
Historically Ferrari have supported the driver with the best chance of getting them the WDC, weather it be Irvine, Schmacher, Kimi or Massa himself. So if Massa can out race and out score Alonso for the first half of next season I would expect Ferrari to fully support him. I'm not sure how that would go down with Alonso. I've got the feeling that the Vettel rumours were just Ferrari attempt to unsettle him at Red Bull, and maybe trying to plant the seed in his head.
I'd argue that Massa was doing a better job than Alonso at the end of the season. Whether that was a genuine upturn of form for Massa or Alonso stumbling is difficult to tell.
Alonso needs a strong Massa, someone that will take big points of his title rivals in 2013 (likely to be Vettel and Button). We all know Alonso will be quick and consistent, if the 2012-August-onwards Massa turns up for the start of 2013, he, I believe will be more of a help than a hindrance to Alonso.
Whether he's better or not Massa will have to fold to Alonso no matter what, barring an injury to FA. Alonso is the clear number 1 driver and we know how Ferrari operate. I do hope he has a more consistent season next year, though.
Barring the team orders scenario and the championship situation, had it been a much earlier race in the year with Massa free to do whatever, does anyone think he would have won Brazil?
I don't think the Ferrari had the pace to hunt down the McLarens or the FI (had Hulk and Hamilton not collided). It appeared that Button was doing just enough to maintain the gap, I think if he wanted to he'd could have gone a fair bit quicker than anyone else on Sunday.
Alonso stumbling is my thought, I don't think Alonso can handle the pressure well, I find him a bit of a choker.
