SEPTEMBER 29, 2001

Massa the favorite at Sauber

Brazilian youngster Felipe Massa is the runaway favorite to get the Sauber drive which will become available next year when Kimi Raikkonen moves to McLaren.

BRAZILIAN youngster Felipe Massa is the runaway favorite to get the Sauber drive which will become available next year when Kimi Raikkonen moves to McLaren. Massa was very impressive in a recent test at Mugello and is expected to test again in the gap between the US and Japanese GPs. A decision will then be made as to whether he will be Nick Heidfeld's team-mate next year. All the indications are that the team will go for this course of action as Sauber has a tradition of bringing on new talent rather than paying for established stars. It has not always been successful but the team has produced several drivers who have gone on to better things, notably Heinz-Harald Frentzen, JJ Lehto and Raikkonen.