SchueyFan Wrote:
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> Only Vettel has outscored Massa in the past 5
> races, so it's unfair to say that he's only had
> two positive results. Even before these 5, he was
> very good in Silverstone and Monaco, and solid in
> various other races.
>
> Massa has been much stronger in 2012 than 2011
> despite what the points tally may show.
Let's see, the current championship order is:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Kimi Räikkönen
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. Mark Webber
6. Jenson Button
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Romain Grosjean
9. Felipe Massa
Now what happened at Belgium? Massa scored 10 points for a 5th. Why? Well, Hamilton and Alonso were taken out by Grosjean. So was Perez and Maldonado. All 5 qualified ahead of Massa. So that was 5 places just handed to him for doing nothing. Massa's race wasn't spectacular, so I think it is safe to say, that a reasonable bet would be that they would all have finished ahead of him, had Grosjean not played Destruction Derby. Hence that would have been 1 point for a 10th. Total result? He stopped Webber from taking 2 points for Red Bull in the Constructor Championship. Not really impressive.
Monza? 12 points for a 4th. But he actually dropped back a position since he qualified 3rd, which I will admit was good, but it would have been 4th if Alonso's car hadn't been borked. And it would have been 6th if the Red Bulls hadn't cocked everything up. Button qualified ahead of him, but suffered a break down. So he was handed a position but lost 2. That the Red Bulls got everything wrong and that Grosjean was out from the ban helped him quite a bit too. Nice effort, but again, not something he earned on his own merits. He was propelled by the misfortune of others both in the qualifying and in the race. When he had to fight, he lost positions. The only driver/team he stole points from in the championship battles that helped Ferrari/Alonso was Raikönnen/Lotus and that was a meager 2 points.
Singapore? Qualified 13th and finished 8th for 4 points. The retirement of Hamiliton made sure it wouldn't be a 9th for 2 points. Solid effort in the same car that the championship leader was driving? Not really. Would he even have gotten 8th without safety cars? I don't think so. Not exactly a stellar performance. Championship benefit? He stopped Webber from taking 1 point for Red Bull in the Constructor Championship.
No... Massa has had 2 good races for Ferrari/Alonso on his own lately. While he did score points in the previous 3 races, the actual annoyance he generated to the main rivals in the two championships was marginal at best.
It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.