MARCH 22, 2012

Massa denies Ferrari pressure

BY TONY DODGINS

Felipe Massa has denied feeling under pressure to retain his seat at Ferrari after a difficult start to the new season in Melbourne, which saw him well off the pace of team mate Fernando Alonso.

"We have had many discussions this week," Massa said as the F1 paddock reconvened in Malaysia, "but discussions about finding out what happened in Australia. I'm sure we're going to find it."

Massa pointed out that it is not the first time there have been rumours of his demise at Maranello, one such occasion being 2008 when he failed to finish the first two races but went on to lose the world championship to Lewis Hamilton at the last corner of the last race.

Ferrari will give Massa a new F2012 chassis for this weekend's second round at Sepang, which has provoked mixed response in the paddock. Some say that it's exactly what a racing team does if one of its drivers appears to have a fundamental issue. The conspiracy theorists, however, point out that it allows a team to say that they have done all in their power to help a driver, before they replace him...

Rumours suggest that Sauber's Sergio Perez could be drafted in to replace Massa, even during the current season.

Giving little away in Malaysia, Peter Sauber said: "If there is such a demand it is a compliment for us. And it would not be the first time!" McLaren paid Sauber handsomely for the early release of Kimi Raikkonen for the 2002 season.

Speaking of Perez, Sauber said: "He has speed, talent and maybe the possibility to use the tyres very carefully without losing speed, which is very important. I did not think he would manage Australia with one stop although the Safety Car helped."

Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn denied that the team could have a tough task hanging onto Perez.

"We know what we have in our contract," she said. "We have announced Sergio as our driver and it is our principal to do it on a yearly basis. What happens in the future, we'll see."

Sauber would not be drawn on whether there is a mechanism in the contract that would allow Ferrari to take Perez if they so desired. With the team sponsored by Telmex, a Mexican driver is important, but the team's reserve driver is the promising Esteban Guttierez.

"It is our target to put him in the car," Kaltenborn said. "The timing is still open but as he is our reserve driver now, the chances are very high that we would also get him into Formula 1."