'Massa can't afford another poor season'



Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is confident that Felipe Massa will return to his best this year, but admits the Brazilian will need to clear his head first.

Massa had a terrible 2010 campaign and he finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship. While team-mate Fernando Alonso picked up four race victories, Massa's best results were a couple of second-place finish behind the Spaniard.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo criticised Massa's performance at the end of the season and gave him a "seven minus".

Team boss Domenicali says Massa knows he can't afford another poor.

"That's partly a characteristic of where he comes from. In part, on the other hand, is the result of a bigger problem," he told Italy's La Repubblica.

"Every driver, in order to race, must feel the strongest. When they don't manage to be the strongest, it's very hard to clear their heads from those excuses each of us creates when things go bad.

"I think this was the cause of Felipe's bad season, but he'll come out of it if he works on that. That's why I'm certain we'll see a great Massa in 2011. The driver knows full well that he can't afford another season like this."

 

I kind of think Ferrari has already written him off. When is his contract with them up?

Even if he has a good/decent season he'll probably get the boot regardless and be replaced by Kubica or somebody like that.

 

He'll most likely will be leaving after this season.