Massa on Ferrari: 'I didn't feel strong enough to make the team listen'

Felipe Massa never became World Champion at Ferrari, much to his disappointment. In 2008, he thought he actually was about to be crowned in his home country Brazil, until Lewis Hamilton overtook Timo Glock on the last lap to run away with the title. Despite this, the driver has learnt a lot during his career and spoke about his Ferrari teammates in an interview with Roksana Ćwik.

Massa shared his time in a Ferrari seat with World Champions Michael Schumacher (2006) and Fernando Alonso (2010-2013). Working with Schumacher felt like a dream to him: “It was great. I mean, it was a great experience. It was a great time to be able to be teammates with Michael Schumacher. I learned a lot from him. He was an amazing driver. The way he was working… We were very close as well. In the end I was lucky to be part of that experience.”

'Alonso was not an easy teammate'

By his own admission, his relationship with Alonso was a bit more complicated. The Spaniard does often clash with teammates on the track and within the team, including the Brazilian. Massa even called Alonso his most difficult teammate.

“First of all, he was an amazing driver. There's nothing you can say. But it was quite difficult to work together inside the team, you know," Massa added. 

"Actually, the team was splitting in the middle. And in the end, it was not good for the result of the team. And also, for me, I didn't feel strong enough to work, to make the team listen to me. That was quite hard. But anyway, it was also some learning around as well.”