Massa warns Kimi

Nikhil

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has fired a warning to new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, saying the Finn faces a battle to make the number one drive his own..

Massa capped a memorable season with victory in his home Grand Prix at Interlagos last weekend, and now the ambitious Brazilian has his sights firmly set on becoming Ferrari's number one driver.

"Now we start back from zero," Massa said after the emotional season finale. "And I don't think I'll take my foot off the throttle to let Kimi through."

Massa surprised many with his performances this year, finishing third in the final championship standings and two places ahead of Raikkonen, who will switch from McLaren to Ferrari for next season.

Massa originally only signed a one-year deal with the Italian manufacturers and few believed he had it in him to convince his bosses to extend his contract come the end of this season.

But after winning two races over the course of the year, Massa has been anything but unconvincing, and has been rewarded with another Ferrari drive.

"At one point, everyone was saying I would leave Ferrari after just one year," Massa said.

"Everyone said the 2007 drivers would be Michael and Kimi.

"But I closed the gaps that needed to be closed, and I don't think I did badly; on the contrary."

And now Massa believes it is up to the newcomer Raikkonen to convince the team that he is the main driver at Ferrari.

"[Kimi] is a fine driver, but he arrives at a new team, and it will be up to him to conquer the team," Massa continued. "It will be a great battle, but it will be fair."

Good to see that..... I hope to see something like the 1988 season where McLaren dominated with Senna and Prost.

Go Ferrari !!

chic_magnet

yeah had seen this on BBC news..... good going Massa!!

dipdude

Not sure what Messa is trying to convey but Kimi ofcourse would be the lead driver for Ferrari unless he fails to finish the first few races or something due to driver fault

Nikhil

He will be the no. 1 driver for sure...

but not in the very obvious way Schumi was.

Kimi is only the favourite to win the championship. But I doubt Ferrari are going to give him extra support or ask Massa to support h8im like how they did with Schumi.

Simply because Massa has been with the Ferrari team for ages now. He was with Sauber who were almost like Ferrari's second team, then he was test driver for Ferrari, then he went back to Sauber and then came back to Ferrari.

So, I think it will be interesting.

Many changes happening for next year. I cant wait