It’s official. Felipe Massa is out and Kimi Raikkonen is in. Ferrari has enlisted arguably the best two drivers on the grid and they are sure to give Red Bull a run for the money especially since Mark Webber has decided to retire at the end of the 2013 season.
Daniel Ricciardo has in that sense rather large shoes to fill and whether he is the best man for the job is to be seen. While Raikkonen and Alonso are among the best drivers around, will they be the best team on the grid?
One man army no more:
There was a time when Felipe Massa was to be feared. In 2008, Massa almost won the world championship. He lost to Lewis Hamilton by a point. Unfortunately, we’ve not seen that Massa ever since his accident at Hungary. Ever since his return, the Massa we saw during the race weekend was but a light shadow of the fearsome Massa of 2008.
Massa failed to be competitive against the Red Bulls and McLarens, Mercedeses and Lotuses. This shifted the burden of fighting for not just the driver’s championship but also the constructor’s championship on Fernando Alonso.
With Kimi Raikkonen replacing Massa, Fernando Alonso can depend on Kimi to assist him win Ferrari the Constructor’s championship that has eluded the team for so many years. With both drivers competing for driver’s championship, Ferrari is hoping to rake in points with the same prowess and speed Red Bull has been doing for the past three years.
Mr Magnanimous will be missed:
Felipe Massa has been to Fernando Alonso what Rubens Barrichello was to Michael Schumacher. Remember 2010 German GP, where the “Alonso is faster than you” radio message became infamous? Ferrari thanked Felipe Massa at the end of the race, over the radio, for being “magnanimous”.
While in 2010, team orders were illegal, today it is not. Unfortunately, Massa has been replaced and Raikkonen is going to be Alonso’s team mate. With Kimi also racing for the championship, will he also be ‘magnanimous’? Will he let Alonso win a race or two so that the latter has a better chance of claiming the title?
Not so friendly rivalry
There is no doubt that Raikkonen’s move to Ferrari isn’t just good news to Ferrari, it is also his attempt to better his chances at winning the Driver’s Championship. This means Ferrari has, after a long time, two drivers not just capable of claiming the title, but also poised to claim it at any cost.
The partnership between Kimi and Alonso will look little like Schumacher and Barrchello’s and extensively like Vettel and Webber’s. If Ferrari is not careful, they’ll be where Red Bull was in 2010—aggressive driver-wise, not championship-wise.
Who’s No 2?
McLaren, when Hamilton and Button were behind the wheel, was perhaps the only team that was able boast of not favouring a particular driver. Everyone else allot a majority of their attention to one driver, generally asking the other driver to play second fiddle. But when you have two world champions as your driver, both capable of ending Vettel’s reign, who do you favour? Who plays second fiddle?
No matter which way Ferrari decides to turn, they are in for a mounting pile of trouble. The only thing Ferrari can do is do away with their normal strategy revolving around team orders and just allow the drivers to race for the win and see who end up on the podium once the dust settles. Any attempt to control the outcome of the race will blow up in their face.