With 7 races gone and Massa now ahead of Kimi , should Ferrari support him as the de facto WDC contendor ? Massa has more pole positions this year, has not made any silly mistakes and is ahead on points. Had this been a Schumi / Rubens era, with Schumi ahead at 7 races , it would have been a 1 horse campaign. Also looking back at Rubens Ferrari career, one hopes that Massa is not on the same model - Maybe 2008 is his greatest chance .

Your views please .

No way. We've seen how quickly things can change.

NO.

So ?? Mclaren are backing Hamilton, BMW most likely will Kubica - with Ferrari spliting it between their 2 drivers , they might lose out. Maybe the best approach is to back Massa .

I hear what you're saying but I wouldn't make that decision at this point in the season, much too early when the difference in points between them is so minimal. I can't even see Kimi accepting this idea anyway!

You did see the Monaco GP, right?

Can you see Massa accepting it that Ferrari should not believe in him ?? Or do you think that Kimi and Massa taking points off each other is not a problem ? I'm sure you are not suggesting that Massa doesn't have it in him - only a few weeks ago we had an article in Autosport quoting people how much he has improved.

Exactly - I saw Kimi running into Sutil and ending up without any points

I would expect Ferrari to continue backing both of the drivers. It's way too early anyway and we saw how things can change

simple answer is NO.

I think this is Hamilton and Kubica's only chance of a WDC: that the two Ferrari drivers take points off each other.

No way that Ferrari can, IMO, call it for either driver so early in the season with both drivers so closely matched.

Do I think Massa is capable of challenging for the championship? Absolutely! he definitely has it in him.
Can I see Massa supporting Kimi if called upon to do so? Actually yes I can. Remember the season end of 2007?
My main point is that although Kimi and Massa may take small points off eachother it is too early to put all the effort behind one driver. Feel free to disagree though.

OK - A couple of people have said this now . Just to look back in history, Austria 2002 was Round 6 of the championship, when Schumi was made to go past Rubens. This year 7 races have gone . Hence it is NOT way too early as per Ferrari's thinking.

You have to take into account the difference in points between the two drivers.

No. It's too early and Räikkönen is the better driver anyway. He'll start winning again very soon.

Yeah but
a) Schumi was miles ahead of rubens
b) Schumi was a proven 4X world champion
c) Barrichelo was not

None of these things match up this time.

I have a feeling ferrari may rue not backing one of their two drivers when bmw and mac are obviously one car teams right now; however which one do you back? They are both intermingling great driving with extremely mediocre. I certainly wouldnt want to put all my eggs in one of the driver baskets open to ferrari right now.

Don't get paranoic. We are not that blase to watch the McLaren farce by Ferrari, are we?

I'm sorry but I didn't understand your post - are you suggesting that Ferrari do not support 1 driver as opposed to Mclaren who do ? could you explain your post - thanks

But did you see Massa running up the St Devote escape road, and being passed for the lead ?

And whilst we are on the subject, Did you not see Massa falling off in Australia and Malaysia ? or running in to DC in Aus ? Thats four silly mistakes.

I mean you can't put the reigning World Champion in the position of an underdog without deeping into xxxx...

No.

Why would they? He's made more mistakes than Raikkonen actually and in Canada Kimi was the faster driver and looking likely for the win aswell.

Regardless - let them race as its way to early to back either driver just yet.

Kmii was the stronger potential driver at Canada, and his record at france, silverstone are very promising, I thought Massa came alive too late at Canada, he still hasn't mastered Canada, he's improved at Monaco, but he didn't win it, so it's not like he's achieved greatness, just he's improved, but that improvement has to keep on coming, Kimi has won the majority of the gp races within the last 18 months, let no one forget that, plus he's the current champion, his points score has suffered badly though due to no fault of his own at Canada, and well Monaco was his worst race, it happens, but he's got a number of strong tracks coming up, maybe goodluck will play a part as much as the driving. No won has been as dominant as Schumacher Michael, if you look at the trend, even with Kimi's bad times, he's still won more gps, it just doesn't seem that way as Kimi isn't as consistent as Schumi was, no one has been since MS left. Title is up for grabs.

Jesus, we're only 7 races in and things can turn on a dime. No offense Hotwheels, but you're being a tad impulsive with this thread.

way to early to say.

I'm sure Ferrari is a big enough team that they can bring Kimi and Felipe a car each.

Apart from all the other reasons mentioned, I seem to remember that Austria 2002 was somewhat unpopular, even among a lot of Ferrari fans. Without wanting to go back into all that discussion, things have moved on since then, as far as I can tell also "for Ferrari's thinking". Massa certainly has had some very good races this year and is doing very well in qualifying, but that is no reason to ruin racing between the two Ferrari drivers. And seriously - even if one accepts early team orders (which I do not) there is quite a difference between the 2002 situation (MS /RB - 44/6 points after 5 races) and 2008 (FM/KR - 38/35 after 7 races). Let alone that last year after Canada LH lead FM by 15 and KR by 21 points. Frankly - either Ferrari driver should just laugh into anybodies face, who suggests team orders at this point. And hold on, aren't team orders forbidden?

But then probably you were not quite serious, anyway

This is obviously a bad idea. If they start supporting Massa, Kimi could find his form, have a bit of luck with retirements/etc, and now you're taking away the points from the wrong driver. Likewise, if they start supporting Kimi, Massa could get into a run of good form and distance himself further from Kimi on the championship while being handicapped by the team.

Remember 1999 and how Irvine would've won the entire thing if they supported him from the beginning? At that time Schumacher was clearly much quicker and only a freak accident triggered that bizarre situation. This time Massa and Kimi are so close that any minor thing could result in this.

They need to let things settle a bit more.

It would be very unwise to backup one driver at this point. It's still unclear how they will perform for the rest of the season, and if not for the pit lane incident, Kimi would be ahead of Massa now, just shows how random a decision like this could be. Ferrari should let the drivers do their job, they certainly have the car to place both drivers in the first positions at every race, supporting both shouldn't be a problem.

Not to be harsh on Massa cause I expecet Kimi to pretty much mop the floor with him, which is clearly not happening and I'm really positively surprised by his form.. he did some rather embarrassing mistakes in first two races. He lost the lead to Kubica in Monca due to a mistake, too (although almost entire grid a mistake or two there).

They're leading the championship so who cares.

This thread is about 5 races too soon id say ;)
If kimi had to win Canada and Massa come in 6th or 7th we'd be having a very different discussion right now.

Yes.

They've both made the same number of mistakes but Massa has looked the quicker of the two. And with BMW looking like more of a threat now it'd be better to get their house in order sooner rather than later.

In 2002 was set from the very beginning with MS as number 1 and RB as number 2. Only a disgrace to MS would have changed that. Here there is a different story. Both had a chance to win last years WDC until 2-3 GP's before the end. Now both can win it. Two days ago Kimi was in front of Felipe. Now it's Felipe in front of Kimi. Who know how are they in a couple of weeks. It makes no sense to have one of them working for the other.

In the case of Mclaren and BMW it's clear that they can select for the moment for HK and NH a more risky strategy or a strategy that "protects" the number one driver (eg. short fuel HK or NH in order to overtake a Ferrari even if it's not the fastest strategy and will penalize the driver, but will penalize more the Ferraris).

Did you watch Malaysia too? Yesterday Massa lucked out big. Nothing wrong with that but he will need a few more dnfs for Kimi until Kimi drops mathematically out of the fight; then it would be only logical for Ferrari to support whoever is left with a chance for the WDC. Until then - equal treatment.

No. Still too early. The upcoming GPs on the calendar tend to favor Raikonnen. Too many points still on the table for the season, and both drivers should continue as if it were Melbourne as unknown mechanical gremlins could scupper either drivers' races.
That said, Massa is very impressive IMO.

what's massa won to be backed up as n1? kimi is the current champion

Kimi would be a pretty pricey no.2 considering his salary. I don't think Luca DM would go for it.

Last time I checked Kimi had the Nr. 1 on his car .........

Just a sticker?

This BB is full of idiots ;)

Ferrari should back Luca Badoer as #1 driver, he's made no mistakes at all (that I've seen anyway).

Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are letting their drivers have an equal chance to win races and compete for the championship and for the sake of the sport I hope it stays that way.

Massa has been unlucky this year. :\ ... same as last year.

My view had this been a Schumi era he would've won 6 of 7 then the answer is very simple. These two drivers aren't in the same league race craft wise.

Oh really? What about Kimi - Australia his team let him down in qualifying.. Monaco - again, Ferrari let down Kimi by failing to put his tyres on 3 minutes before the formation lap. Yesterday Kimi was rammed from behind due to no fault of his. And you talk about Massa's bad luck? They are about equal so far in the luck's department.

and who is debating this? ..

BMW and McLaren have had a good couple of races, but now with Magny-Cours and Silverstone coming up I would expect more of a Ferrari advantage, so I would say it's too early to back one driver. Both haven't had a spotless year and although its hard to bet against Kimi, after the first 2 races Massa has really improves whereas Kimi seems like he is loosing interest. France and Britain were good for Ferrari last year so lets see which driver comes out on top at them.

No way will this happen

..and the year before, and his first year in F1...

His performance in Montreal was truly pathetic.

you're right. He should have gotten out and fuelled his own car.