Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has issued Felipe Massa with an warning that he must do better in 2012, if he is to remain with the Italian outfit.
Massa has failed to finish on the podium, or even in the top four, during a single grand prix in 2011, compared to his teammate Fernando Alonso, who won the British GP and has been on the podium nine times.
Montezemolo, speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport says the outfit must do a better job to be competitive in 2012, before praising Alonso as ‘the best driver in the world,’ but he wasn’t so complimentary of the Brazilian.
“Let’s hope [2012] goes well,” said Montezemolo. “I have great confidence in our drivers and there seems to have been a clarification as regards the regulations. I’m sure we’ll have a more competitive car. The drivers? We have a contract with Fernando until 2016 and he’s the best driver in the world.
“Massa’s contract will run for the whole of next season; he’s been with us for quite a few years and even if he didn’t have such a great season or much luck, we can’t question the ability of a driver who was winning the title three years ago and who has always been fast and competitive. Let’s hope he can finish the season with a good result in Brazil, we expect great things from him in 2012 and then we’ll decide how to proceed. Let’s say he’ll have to prove himself next season.”
The Italian marked his outfits efforts as a six out of ten, highlighting their lack of risk as the reason for their poor form.
“A mark out of ten for our season? I’d give a 5 which I’ll raise to 6 considering the effort and the victory at Silverstone exactly 60 years after Ferrari’s first win in F1. But the season started badly, we didn’t interpret the regulations well and we didn’t take risks in the technology of our project.”
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