Because for Lewis to lose it, Massa must then not screw up.

Doug

One thinks if one has nothing one obviously has nothing to loose as well...

You don't say!

Eh, what's this ? Louise Goodman is not a contender and the race is not at Phillip Island. It's between Lewis and Felipe in Brazil.

I don't buy this. Massa needs to win (or be second) anything else won't do. Why he should have less pressure than a driver who just needs to cruise home with three points with most reliable and possibly fastest car out there?

Massa's comments don't really take into consideration that one of the Ferrari drivers should have won the WDC with that Ferrari. Its been the better car more often than not.

Its all very well saying 'hey I'm 7 points down so I've got nothing to lose' but he shouldn't really be 7 points down.

Not really his fault he isnt. Fuel hose blunder and engine blowup ring a bell? LH, otoh, had nothing of that sort happening to him (maybe this weekend?).

Don't want to touch a soft spot for Massa's fanboys, but it seems quite a lot of people forget about Malaysia? I don't see how you can attribute that mistake to engine designers or refuelling guys.

Dumping it at Silverstone many MANY times. Screwing it up at Malaysia. T-boning LH at Fuji... if if if if if if if if.....he'd be leading without those blunders of his own making.

Everyone knows that Massa f-up the first 2 races, who knows why, maybe he was trying too hard or couldnt find the sweet spot for those races, but then he came back and, if not for the two other blunders that I mentioned, which were not his fault, would be leading F1's new hero, Lewis, by a confortable margin.

But I agree, theres no point arguing about IFs, lets just wait and judge Massa's season after the Brazilian GP. IMHO he did well enough already and if he does the same next year, and Ferrari doesn't screw-up again, I'll be more than satisfied.

Massa isn't a complete driver, I think everyone knows that he makes mistakes quite often. But Hamilton has driven dangerously and crashed into a stationary car in Canada and forced guys like Glock off the track in Monza. Neither of them have driven brilliantly all year, they both are error-prone. But Massa has been extra unlucky in terms of fuel hoses and the engine in Hungary etc... so for those reasons - and for the fact that he's less of a prick than Hamilton - I hope he wins the WDC.

More like Ferrari - Sauber Jerez 1997.

If Hamilton DNF's, that's the only time I think pressure arrives on Massa's shoulders. And by the time that happens, I would guess the race will be in a settled rythm with no T1 to worry about and the Ferraris out in the lead. So I think the pressure would have little effect.

Hamilton, OTOH, will have pressure on him from the second he arrives. The important thing is for him to be able to ignore it and drive his normal race.

I think McLaren could try to fuel him very aggressively to get him on pole so he can scamper away from the pack early on and just run his own race, with very conservative strategic calls (pit with a couple of laps of fuel remaining etc) from there on in.

I think the general nervousness about him stems form the fact that Hamilton this season doesn't have such a thing as a "normal" race. It tends to be either brilliant or... WTF is he doing?

Sounds good. But you know, by their own words, such strategy is "anathema" to the team....

;)

I remember our commentator enumerating coalitions between teams before the race. There was basically McLaren+Willianms, 1 or 2 neutral teams, and Ferrary + everyone else.

It's not surprising JV had problems overtaking backmarkers.

LH had a flat tire in Hungary.....

I'd absolutely love to see Lewis win on Sunday.

But if he has to lose to anyone, I'd like it to be Felipe.

Massa really has come from nowhere these past few years.

Remember in 2002 Jacques Villeneuve saying Massa could barely drive in a straight line.

For a driver than wild to be tamed and turn into a solid championship contender, eclipsing Kimi is quite something.

But the McLarens stayed out of everyone's way, one Norberto Fontana as I recall decided to lose Jacques about three or four seconds on the road.

A year or so ago Fontana admitted that he was under strict instructions from Peter Sauber to hold Villeneuve up for as long as he could possibly get away with.

I don't think pingu666's post was meant to put Nelson on Lewis' level or Lewis on Nelson's level (the latter undoubtably of great disappointment to you) but to simply point out that you were wrong.

Of course Massa means it when he says he isn´t feeling any pressure. Winning the title is no longer in his hands, so the only emotion he will be feeling is hope, as in, hope things turn sour for Hamilton and end well for himself.
The championship is Lewis´s to lose, and the only way Massa is going to snatch the title is if Lewis gets a case of Hamiltonistis and drops the ball like he did last year.
Personally, I wouldn´t rule that out.

Of course he does, but it doesn't mean it's a fact.

It's what he says, no one can prove it and it's highly unlikely. He's in his home country with the fans hoping for him to win the WDC, the local media will be focussing on him and he will be the centre of attention, let's be honest the pressure could be off Lewis a bit this weekend.

I think Hamilton is probably quite relaxed about the race, Massa is probably just wanting to win his home GP, after all last year he did have to hand the win over. I believe that Hamilton would be happy with 3rd on the Grid if the Ferrari's manage to lock it out. However this will be a much tighter race from the 'also runs' as well, I wouldn't mind betting that Kubica and Alonso will be up the grid, not to mention Vettel, Webber and (fingers crossed) even Rosberg. So I am not sure how Hamilton will react if he sees Alonso get the better of him into the first few corners (not unlike last year), His head should go "you still win in 4th', but what will the emotion be saying. My thought is he will attack and then it will be all on, and it always seems that when one thing goes wrong other things start to happen and unwind.

Looking forward to the race, which is Monday morning (NZ time), although Sky seem to think it starts at 4.00am, F1 website 6.00am and autosport thinks 7.00am - if its the last one I might need a plausible excuse for why my daughter is late for school and for my boss (should never have told him I watch every F1 race no matter what)!!!!

Then he's kidding himself. Seriously. You're a fan - do YOU think his championship is over? Surely after '07, the first thing he's thinking is 'You know - this isn't over yet'

They're BOTH under pressure. A lot of it

End of discussion, really.

The wc is effectively over, not counting freak incidents. 7 points behind means there there little expectations on Massa's shoulders except losing, while there is massive expectation for Hamilton to win with that lead. I dont think massa has much pressure because hes effectively beaten.

Massa will be of the opinion "I'm going to go and win the race, whatever happens happens". In that respect he is under less pressure than Hamilton who will be worried about every little noise he hears that sounds odd, paranoia when passing people and generally nervous around other drivers such as Alonso.

And that's after all the worries about the start and turn 1. Hamilton needs to stay out of trouble which is sometimes harder than it sounds. I imagine the best policy for him would be to try for pole, maybe fuel him super light to get it.. then pit early and allow the Ferraris to lead and bring it home conservatively, knowing Heikki will get out of his way if required.

I think what will be interesting is what Ferrari do with Kimi.. perhaps entering into a cat and mouse game where they will try and qualify Kimi next to Hamilton in the hope he can force an error from Hamilton early in the race.

Finishing 5th may be more mentally difficult than finishing 1st. A guy who is crusing can easily lose concentration.

Well there's one expectation he has to come up with: he needs to score 8 points at least. If he doesn't despite definitely having the car to do it everyone will keep on saying that Massa will never be a champion. He would keep his stigma of failing when he has to deliver. I think that's quite some pressure for him.

In short: if Massa shows a poor performance in Brazil he will be the one who binned it.

The pressure hugely on Felipe.

He has raised his game this season but has been helped by the fact Raikkonen has been so average. If Kimi gets his act together next season he'll quickly reassert himself as Ferrari's main man IMO.

So I'm sure Massa is acutely aware that Sunday could be the only chance he'll have in his career to take the title.

Also, we've shown emotion can creep into his driving quite easily.

I think he has everything to lose actually.

The times on the official F1 site are correct.

Starts at 4am here in Sydney....you guys are 2 hours ahead in NZ?

how do you know that he has the car to do it? he definetely had the car to do it in singapore, yet he came with 0 points with no fault of his own.
his car couldn't make it to the finish line already twice.
f1 is not that simple. yes, he can f** up big time.
but what has he got to lose?
it's his first championship showdown. he comes with -7
for hamilton it's his 2nd championship showdown. the 1st one he lost it from +7. Now he is +7 again
i say the pressure is on him.
losing in the last race when starting with -7 is not that bad
losing from +7 2 yrs in a row is quite bad

if he is not going to start any stupid things like Schumi did in 1997, he has nothing to lose... that's right.
otherwise he is getting a bad image and gets disqualified for the whole season.
but this is probably the last chance for him to win, cuz Räikkönen might be back next year

I agree, but only cos I want a miracle of hammy screwing up. I think what you propose is most likely to lead to that (of teh available scenarios). If he qualifies on pole then its more pressure and there is a bigger chance if something went wrong - remember he's already had a couple of bad starts this season - he might lose it and make a mistake. If he qualifies 3rd then mac can work on him and make sure he realises he is behind the ferraris but that is fine. its less pressure for him that way, I think

Sky TV have today moved the programme to 6.00am on Monday morning, so that's sorted, now I just need the excuses!!