Hungary holds a lot of significance to Massa, who writes in his blog on the ferrari website: 'Clearly, after what happened two years ago, Budapest and the Hungarian people are an important part of my personal history and once again I plan to meet the people who helped me through that difficult time, both at the track and the hospital.'
So, for Massa to manage to out qualify his teammate for the first time the season, at the track which probably springs up the most amount of emotion was an absolute breakthrough. You have to commend him on that one. Every fraction of a second counts. It can be the difference between winning a championship and loosing it.
But after such a successful Saturday session, Sunday didn't look like it wanted to go that way... Massa got a poor start, as wet weather reduced traction from off of the line and he saw himself being beaten into the first corner by his teammate, the amazing-Alonso. Felipe had a lot of catching up to do as the two MercedesGP's of Schumacher and Rosberg had managed to nip past him into first corner, meaning he needed to overtake them, and fast! Wet conditions meant we saw even the best of the drivers sliding off and around the track (Button, Vettel and Alonso, who where at the end, those on the podium.) Felipe tried to react to going off track (due to just touching the white line) which caused him to spin around and hit his rear wing on the tyre wall, causing it to be damaged, significantly so, but this can be argued to actually not affecting the times very much at all, to costing him the race and a better finish.
Pitstops were a bit slow, but naturally, one could say Felipe could have made up such time due to being on a fresh set of tyres, so from his first pitstop, Felipe rejoined the pack at about P14, putting him in traffic and causing him to do those things called overtakes that certain races this season have been said to have lacked... (Well this race cannot be argued for lacking in exciting overtakes!)
Later on in the race, we saw Massa regain P4 as Hamilton had his pitstop after being on the wrong tyre for the conditions (the intermediates) and serving a drive through penalty for causing Paul Di Resta to take a move rallying across the track to avoid Hamilton who was recovering from a spin. But, with still a lot of laps to go, Massa caved in to let the Red Bull of Mark Webber and then the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton pass him. They were right on his tail, and throughout the weekend we were shown that the Red Bull and The McLaren were faster (see qualifying and the race result- ie the podium.)
So in one case we can say it was a disappointing race weekend for the Brazilian, finishing behind his teammate. But, let's not forget. Felipe made some smooth overtakes, he proved that he can be faster than Fernando. He proved that when the pitstops are slow and go slightly wrong, he can make up on lost time. Going into the summer break we can say that there is lots for him to work upon, but for Felipe to come back to the track that holds so many memories and make something from it, is something to commend. Ferrari should be proud that they have such a likable, fast and cheeky, young Brazilian, who has been compared to the likes of Senna. Who is arguably the best driver that has ever turned a corner in Formula One. So lets give Felipe a pat on the back for once, not insulting him for any mistakes he has made- after all every driver makes mistakes, even Vettel!
