FÓRMULA-1

Massa chooses Alonso's toughest teammate: “I suffered a lot”

Brazilian driver spoke about Spanish power during his time at Ferrari, reporting that he was shaken psychologically because of the politics within the team
Felipe Massa had a remarkable period in his Ferrari career, when he drove to the traditional Italian team from 2006 to 2013, coming close to the title in 2008, in the famous Interlagos race in which he 'was the champion' for 38 seconds, before Lewis Hamilton get the result you need.
Among his teammates on the Maranello team, Massa had Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, which means he never had an easy life in the team.
During Live on Instagram with journalist Reginaldo Leme, the current Formula E driver answered who would have been the most difficult teammate during his F1 stint.
"My toughest teammate was Alonso," nailed Massa. "I don't overlook the importance of Schumacher, but Alonso, without a doubt, had the same talent, speed and intelligence as the German."
"Schumacher had power within the team, but with me, I was like a younger brother, whereas with Alonso, the dispute was more than equal and he managed to bring everything in his favor."
“He had a talent for bringing things to him, in the strength of politics, which was more difficult for me. To stay ahead of him you had to do the perfect lap, many times I did it, only he could, for example, the best time to stop during the race, the best strategy was his and things went back to his side. “
With the preference always going to the other side of the garage, Massa also reported how it undermined the psychological side within the team.
“Psychologically it was difficult, without a doubt, I suffered a lot, it affected me. The first race of 2010, in Bahrain, I started ahead of him, but he had an exceptional race, he beat me. ”
“In Australia, it rained, I came in third and he came in fourth, but he came to me in the last 10 laps and the team told me to let him pass and it was the second race of the year. I didn't let it go, I denied the team's order and left leading the championship after that race, but receiving a lot of pressure. ”
“In the second race of the year the guys wanted me to let him pass, that was not right. So it started to affect me psychologically and it got worse in that race in Germany where I was told to let him pass and I did it, because it was the right thing to do. ”
“So, I suffered a lot more with Alonso, not with work, I always got along very well with him, but he managed to turn things around in his favor. With Kimi, I never had that kind of problem, but Alonso was the guy I suffered the most with. ” Courtesy: © Sutton Motorsport.com