Good stuff from Felippe Massa
Discussion
On the BBC said:
Massa supports F1 points U-turn
Ferrari's Felipe Massa has backed the decision to defer the controversial "winner takes all" points system in F1.
Governing body the FIA had planned to award the title to the driver with most wins but was forced to postpone the plan after protests from F1 teams.
Massa, who would have won the title last season under the system, said: "To assign the title to the driver who wins the most races is not correct.
"We've 17 races in the championship. It's not the Olympics 100m sprint."
Massa won six races last year, one more than champion Lewis Hamilton, but lost the title by one point under the existing system.
But he said: "I'm really not interested in the fact that with such a system I would have won the title last year. I'm interested in what's right for our sport."
He added it was more important to reward consistency over the course of the season.
"A driver might win more races, but might be inconsistent in his performance not gaining many points. In this case I think he wouldn't deserve the title."
Massa is in favour of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota) proposal which would see the top three drivers in each race get 12-9-7 points instead of the current 10-8-6.
This idea was unanimously rejected by the World Motor Sport Council who seem certain to push ahead with plans to introduce the 'winner takes all' system in 2010.
"If the FIA didn't like this idea, it's better to remain with last year's system. But if the difference between first and second place was greater there would be a greater stimulus to fight for the win, but you would still have to be consistent throughout the season."
With virtually unanimous oppostion, will the dwarf listen?Ferrari's Felipe Massa has backed the decision to defer the controversial "winner takes all" points system in F1.
Governing body the FIA had planned to award the title to the driver with most wins but was forced to postpone the plan after protests from F1 teams.
Massa, who would have won the title last season under the system, said: "To assign the title to the driver who wins the most races is not correct.
"We've 17 races in the championship. It's not the Olympics 100m sprint."
Massa won six races last year, one more than champion Lewis Hamilton, but lost the title by one point under the existing system.
But he said: "I'm really not interested in the fact that with such a system I would have won the title last year. I'm interested in what's right for our sport."
He added it was more important to reward consistency over the course of the season.
"A driver might win more races, but might be inconsistent in his performance not gaining many points. In this case I think he wouldn't deserve the title."
Massa is in favour of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota) proposal which would see the top three drivers in each race get 12-9-7 points instead of the current 10-8-6.
This idea was unanimously rejected by the World Motor Sport Council who seem certain to push ahead with plans to introduce the 'winner takes all' system in 2010.
"If the FIA didn't like this idea, it's better to remain with last year's system. But if the difference between first and second place was greater there would be a greater stimulus to fight for the win, but you would still have to be consistent throughout the season."
Shows what a true racer he is - yes Hamilton's title is a bit shaky and Massa perhaps should have won - but he didnt and he accepts that and instead of throwing his toys out of the pram he is setting his sights on his next chance.
IMO shows he has his feet firmly grounded, and he deserves the WDC he is bound to acheive in his career
Which makes me wonder how well he fits into Ferrari with his honest positive attitude??
IMO shows he has his feet firmly grounded, and he deserves the WDC he is bound to acheive in his career
Which makes me wonder how well he fits into Ferrari with his honest positive attitude??
what a load of cock, its all very well nailing his colours to the mast now the decision has been made but where was he with his strong opinion when Bernie was planning the whole thing... sat at home with Ferrari working out how best to expolit the new rules i would guess... if an F1 driver wants my respect these days, they have to open their mouth when these proposed rules changes are raised, not when they are resolved...
pablo said:
what a load of cock, its all very well nailing his colours to the mast now the decision has been made but where was he with his strong opinion when Bernie was planning the whole thing... sat at home with Ferrari working out how best to expolit the new rules i would guess... if an F1 driver wants my respect these days, they have to open their mouth when these proposed rules changes are raised, not when they are resolved...
Probably more to it than that - I would imagine all the drivers would have pretty tight restrictions on what they can / cannot say imposed by their teams PR people.It might be a case that Ferrari bosses told him to tow the line before, but now the rules have been scrapped they are happy for him to speak his mind.
Wanta996Gotta said:
I cringe when i keep reading the Massa would have won last year due to the amount of wins. The Spa incident will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. Using that farce as a win is a joke.
I know same here,but we all know that lewis won spa,and that will never change 
He would have won under the most victories system, considering he is driver we knew inconsistent from race to race, the system will be likely to favor him.
Despite the system may be beneficial for him, that comment arbitrates point system dispute, like any fruitful comments of Massa.
Despite the system may be beneficial for him, that comment arbitrates point system dispute, like any fruitful comments of Massa.
Bill Carr said:
hornetrider said:
On the BBC said:
if the difference between first and second place was greater there would be a greater stimulus to fight for the win, but you would still have to be consistent throughout the season."
Bring back 10-6-4-3-2-1!
First place should be worth at least 1.5 times second place, and ideally 2x if they want to encourage winning more... maybe they could use 15-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 if they want to reward the top 8 places.
Wanta996Gotta said:
I cringe when i keep reading the Massa would have won last year due to the amount of wins. The Spa incident will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. Using that farce as a win is a joke.
There's no bigger argument against the proposed system than that incident.Best of luck to FM for this season.
Mike400 said:
pablo said:
what a load of cock, its all very well nailing his colours to the mast now the decision has been made but where was he with his strong opinion when Bernie was planning the whole thing... sat at home with Ferrari working out how best to expolit the new rules i would guess... if an F1 driver wants my respect these days, they have to open their mouth when these proposed rules changes are raised, not when they are resolved...
Probably more to it than that - I would imagine all the drivers would have pretty tight restrictions on what they can / cannot say imposed by their teams PR people.It might be a case that Ferrari bosses told him to tow the line before, but now the rules have been scrapped they are happy for him to speak his mind.
ts!...he has a mouth and a pair of balls and a contract. they cant sack him for voicing an opinion. lots of other sportsmen voice an opinion about their sport, the ruling bodies or potential rule changes. imagine if the FA said that goals scored from outside the box would count double from next season, yeah, i can really see all the players keeping quiet about that one?!
in my opinion, massa and ferrari kept schtum about the revised points system in order to protect the relationship they have with the FIA, i dont really care if they get preferential treatement or not, they just dont have the balls to voice an opinion.
pablo said:
Mike400 said:
pablo said:
what a load of cock, its all very well nailing his colours to the mast now the decision has been made but where was he with his strong opinion when Bernie was planning the whole thing... sat at home with Ferrari working out how best to expolit the new rules i would guess... if an F1 driver wants my respect these days, they have to open their mouth when these proposed rules changes are raised, not when they are resolved...
Probably more to it than that - I would imagine all the drivers would have pretty tight restrictions on what they can / cannot say imposed by their teams PR people.It might be a case that Ferrari bosses told him to tow the line before, but now the rules have been scrapped they are happy for him to speak his mind.
ts!...he has a mouth and a pair of balls and a contract. they cant sack him for voicing an opinion. lots of other sportsmen voice an opinion about their sport, the ruling bodies or potential rule changes. imagine if the FA said that goals scored from outside the box would count double from next season, yeah, i can really see all the players keeping quiet about that one?!
in my opinion, massa and ferrari kept schtum about the revised points system in order to protect the relationship they have with the FIA, i dont really care if they get preferential treatement or not, they just dont have the balls to voice an opinion.
Also don't forget that Luca di Montezemolo called the winner-takes-all rule, "absurd", and that it was FOTA under his leadership who threw the rule book at the FIA. Hardly the sign of pro-FIA bias from Ferrari!
So to put the dump on Ferrari and Massa when only 4 of 20 drivers voiced any opposition to the new rules (where were the other 16?!), and when Ferrari actually OPPOSED the rules and helped to get it overturned, is "a load of cock".
Edited by Jungles on Wednesday 25th March 12:32
Jungles said:
pablo said:
Mike400 said:
pablo said:
what a load of cock, its all very well nailing his colours to the mast now the decision has been made but where was he with his strong opinion when Bernie was planning the whole thing... sat at home with Ferrari working out how best to expolit the new rules i would guess... if an F1 driver wants my respect these days, they have to open their mouth when these proposed rules changes are raised, not when they are resolved...
Probably more to it than that - I would imagine all the drivers would have pretty tight restrictions on what they can / cannot say imposed by their teams PR people.It might be a case that Ferrari bosses told him to tow the line before, but now the rules have been scrapped they are happy for him to speak his mind.
ts!...he has a mouth and a pair of balls and a contract. they cant sack him for voicing an opinion. lots of other sportsmen voice an opinion about their sport, the ruling bodies or potential rule changes. imagine if the FA said that goals scored from outside the box would count double from next season, yeah, i can really see all the players keeping quiet about that one?!
in my opinion, massa and ferrari kept schtum about the revised points system in order to protect the relationship they have with the FIA, i dont really care if they get preferential treatement or not, they just dont have the balls to voice an opinion.
Also don't forget that Luca di Montezemolo called the winner-takes-all rule, "absurd", and that it was FOTA under his leadership who threw the rule book at the FIA. Hardly the sign of pro-FIA bias from Ferrari!
So to put the dump on Ferrari and Massa when only 4 of 20 drivers voiced any opposition to the new rules (where were the other 16?!), and when Ferrari actually OPPOSED the rules and helped to get it overturned, is "a load of cock".
Edited by Jungles on Wednesday 25th March 12:32
Fair play to Button, Alonso et al for having the balls to say it was a crap idea from the start.
As for Luca, it was a good call on his part to condemn the rule changes as Chairman of FOTA (to bulid trust amonsgst teams and keep FOTA, which only re-emerged in late 08, a cohesive organsiation) rather than as President of Fiat (i believe he is nothing to do with the F1 team anymore?)
i didnt say that ferrari were pro-FIA or vice versa, just that ferrari seem to have kept quiet about the whole affair whilst it rumbled on. It would have been nice if the bigger teams with certain influences could have stood up to it.
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