Felipe Massa has been ranked by an authoritative German magazine as the 17th best driver on the 2012 grid after half the season so far. But the Brazilian, who is fighting to keep his seat at Ferrari after seven consecutive seasons with the famous Italian team, gave his August break a boost at the weekend by going 'P1' at his home Interlagos circuit.
He was faster than regulars including former grand prix driver Christian Fittipaldi during practice for a round of the Brazilian Copa Fiat touring car series. "Having one set of tyres more than the others helped me but I was not expecting to be quicker than these excellent and experienced drivers," said Massa.
On Auto Motor und Sport's mid-season ranking, however, the 31-year-old was a lowly seventeenth -- 16 places behind his excellent teammate Fernando Alonso and even reportedly outclassed by drivers including Daniel Ricciardo and Vitaly Petrov.
"Many people believe this is the first time I've been in such a situation," Massa is quoted by the Russian website f1news.ru. "It's not. It happened a lot in the series I did before formula one -- if I did not win the race then I probably wouldn't have the money to do the next one."
The Auto Motor und Sport ranking was calculated by averaging the scores given by the magazine to each driver following each of the eleven grands prix so far in 2012. Championship leader Alonso's score of 9.09 was the highest, followed by Sebastian Vettel (7.64 out of 10), Lewis Hamilton (7.55) and Kimi Raikkonen (7.27). Michael Schumacher is sixth with 6.73, McLaren's Jenson Button just twelfth (5.73), and Barcelona winner Pastor Maldonado second-to-last with a score of only 4.45 out of 10. (GMM)
Massa just 17th on 'best of 2012' ranking - report
- Published on 20 Aug 2012 11:58
-
0
- By: Rob Veenstra
F1 News
Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button
Felipe Massa
Pastor Maldonado
Daniel Ricciardo
Lewis Hamilton
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
McLaren
.
Trending news
-
Why McLaren worried Norris vs Piastri could explodeMcLaren team principal Andrea Stella has admitted the team seriously feared the relationship between Lando Norris and...
12 Aug 2026 16:28 -
Red Bull boss reveals just how deep the Verstappen bond runsRed Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has moved to shut down speculation surrounding Max Verstappen's future, de...
12 Aug 2026 15:26 -
Honda reveals what's inside Aston Martin's crucial B-spec engineHonda chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has confirmed that Aston Martin will introduce a heavily revised B-spec power u...
12 Aug 2026 14:25 -
Why Pérez and Bottas could both lose their Cadillac seatsSergio Pérez fears his Cadillac stint could last just a single season. According to Spanish outlet Marca, the ...
12 Aug 2026 13:23 -
Carlos Sainz Has Escape Clause to Leave WilliamsCarlos Sainz may have an unexpected escape route from Williams, despite signing through 2028. Formula 1 journalist Ma...
12 Aug 2026 12:21
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 629
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 201
- Country ES
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (45)
- Place of b. Oviedo, ES
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 188,020 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
Team profile
- Team name Ferrari
- Base Maranello, Italy
- Kimi Räikkönen 1
- Michael Schumacher 1
- Michael Schumacher 1
- Felipe Massa 2
- Fernando Alonso 3
- Felipe Massa 3
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Felipe Massa 4
- Kimi Räikkönen 4
- Sebastian Vettel 5
- Fernando Alonso 5
- Fernando Alonso 5
- Felipe Massa 5
- Michael Schumacher 5
- Michael Schumacher 5
- Felipe Massa 6
- Felipe Massa 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Felipe Massa 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 7
- Felipe Massa 7
- Fernando Alonso 8
- Fernando Alonso 14
- Charles Leclerc 16
- Gerhard Berger 28
- Gerhard Berger 28
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- 511,180 comments on Ferrari
- 284 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Ferrari
Replies (0)
Login to reply