Hockenheim doesnât hold many happy memories for Felipe Massa. After all, it was the scene of the infamous âFernando is faster than youâ radio message in 2010, that arguably led to his downturn in performance. But that wasnât the first time Felipe had been ordered aside at the track⦠The 2002 German Grand Prix was the first time Massa had raced at the venue in F1 and he didnât get off to a good start. He was driving for Sauber, perhaps not an outfit where you would expect team orders to be used. Nonetheless, mid-race, the Saubers were running seventh and eighth, with Massa just ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld. Given that Heidfeld was setting the quicker times and that Olivier Panisâ BAR was not far up the road, it was decided that Massa would yield to the German. Massa, still in his first season in the sport (with a reputation for erratic speed), duly let his teammate through. However within a few laps, Panis had retired and there was no conceivable way that Heidfeld could catch David Coulthard for fifth. Now, normally, when one driver moves out of the way to aid the other, if the new lead driver cannot progress, they hand the place back to their teammate. This did not happen. Even when Heidfeld spun and dropped right back into the clutches of Massa, still the team didnât order Heidfeld to let Massa back ahead. In the end Heidfeld went on to finish sixth and secure the final championship point, with Massa a few seconds behind him. Inevitably, the Brazilian wasnât happy. He said at the time: âI understand why I had to let Heidfeld [notice the use of driver's surname, not first] by, but why did he not return the place to me later on? That would have been fair because that championship point belonged to me.â It was a harsh lesson in the unfairness of F1. We all know how history cruelly repeated itself eight years later and probably contributed to Massa's present position: fighting for his F1 future. If he can put all the bad memories of Hockenheim and Hungary (the scene of his horrific crash) behind him and perform well at the next two races he might just be able to stay at Ferrari. That's assuming Ferrari don't make it three times unlucky and again order him aside in Germany...
Maybe Massa has turned his F1 career around... I hope for him that he really has, it would be good to see for once.
Yeah, could well be!!! There weren't many times during his F1 career when you could say he was quicker than his teammate! As for Massa it would be great if he could get a podium this weekend.
Kubica 2 times out of 3 And I think he's the best driver not to win the championship (Kubica not Heidfeld)
Well, perhaps I should say not on a consistent race-by-race basis!! (Although if you think about it in 2007 Heidfeld beat Kubica in the Pole's first full season, whilst in 2009Heidfeld beat him in the standings by just two points).
