Felipe Massa admits to having been distracted by the rumors in 2012

In 2012, Felipe Massa showed two sides, experiencing, by his own admission, a disastrous start to the season and a competitive finish. Having scored only 23 points – compared to Fernando Alonso’s 154 – in the first ten races, the Brazilian turned things around in the second half of the season by scoring 99 points – compared to Alonso’s 124. During the same period, the Paulista also returned to the podium twice, in Japan and Brazil, honors he hadn’t received since 2010.

Renewed late at Ferrari, after months of speculation, the Brazilian driver acknowledged during the Ferrari World Finals last weekend that the rumors surrounding his future affected him at the start of the season: « During the first half of the year, I was worried about renewing my contract. I did not think Ferrari would truly wait until the very end of the summer before deciding on its drivers for the next year. It is true that since I’ve been in Maranello, there have been rumors about me, even during my first season, there was a list of drivers supposed to replace me, and it was the same this year, with many names and as much speculation. At first, I paid too much attention to these things, then in August, I told myself I should only think about racing and having fun. I started to really drive, to get the right feel with the car, and to go as fast as I knew I could. Now, I feel very strong and the results were there in the last nine races, so I am optimistic about the future, both mine and Ferrari’s. »

For his part, Luca di Montezemolo does not regret having extended the Brazilian’s contract: « It was very pleasing to see Felipe have a great second half of the championship, proving that we were right to keep him on edge before confirming him: he’s been with us for so many years and this end of the season will be very important for him, not only psychologically, for the start of next year. »