Sergio Perez

[Scott Webber]

Ferrari are reportedly considering Sergio Perez for 2013 as they want "one younger driver with the potential to be great" to partner Fernando Alonso.

Alonso's current team-mate, Felipe Massa, is believed to be living on borrowed time at Ferrari after failing to produce the results - or even match Alonso - since returning from his horrific injury sustained in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian GP.
With just 84 points compared to Alonso's 184, Ferrari are set to retain Massa for next year's Championship, however, it will most likely be his last with the Italian stable.

One driver they are set to look at is Mexican rookie Perez, who made his debut with Sauber this season.
A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Perez impressed many at the team during a test at the Fiorano circuit earlier this month.

source

 

[Scott Webber]

When i first read this Article i thought , that is cool, he's a good driver and deserves a seat, not because of the financial investment he brings but he is talented, he has shown that throughout his First Season.

But, yes there is a BUT, there always is! Why are Ferrari even considering this already? the season isn't even over and they even said they need to focus on next years car and season to be competitive for the title, they are jumping the gun on this way to soon and should have kept things quite and waited until mid season next year to make a final assessment before either replacing Massa with Perez or as a Reserve Driver.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I think it was already unofficially decided last year that Massa would be replaced by another driver. Can't blame Ferrari as they have been all but good for Massa I think but the man clearly lost his speed after his accident.

Although I think Perez has great potential he is not ready for a triple A team like Ferrari yet, especially if he needs to challenge Alonso.

Personally I would like to see Heikki Kovalainen back in the seat of a top car as I still think McLaren let him go too early. Heikki has been pushing the Lotus to the maximum the last two years and keeps impressing me to be honest.

 

[Eric Parker]

I think he would be. I don't expect him to challenge Alonso, but he has done well in the Sauber this year. And quite frankly... Massa just isn't a top driver anymore. He's lost his edge or nerve or something.

 

[Péter Bártfai]

I can't say yes or no, Perez is a good driver, but even if Massa lost his speed, he is still going OK, it's impossible to tell how Perez would do in the Ferrari.

 

[Myles Thomas]

Unfortuatly "OK" in F1 is slow. i dont think Ferrari want a driver to Challange Alonso, they want a driver who can race behind him for second, and have the speed to back alonso up. just my 2 cents, which in New Zealand is about 0.00001 of nothing!!

 

[ufunacaoenn]

IMO it is way to early to come to a conclution. I belive though that he haven't shown all cards that he is holding.

 

[David J Anderson]

I think it's still too early to start thinking about replacing Massa. His accident in 09 then his confidence damaging 2010 season (thanks Ferrari for the Hockenheim bull****) haven't helped him. Added to the fact that, anyone can see that, Ferrari haven't made a properly good car since 2008, showing that they haven't adapted to the new regulations yet as much as say Mclaren and Red Bull.

Anyone can see that Alonso is having to drive the wheels off of his Ferrari to get any decent results from it which is what Alonso does. Massa doesn't really thrash cars as much. I've watched him since his Sauber years and Massa isn't an all arms flying a stuff driver. If you've watched Alonso carefully, even when he drove for Renault, he moves his steering wheel like mad because he likes understeer in a car. Massa I think when he joined Ferrari, he definitely gelled better with a Schumacher designed Ferrari, oversteery. I remember the Chinese event where Massa was clearly the faster driver than Alonso. This was due to an extreme setup that him and Rob Smedley were able to work out that would work in Massa's favour. Unfortunately an extreme setup doesn't work at every track.

Alonso's presence in Ferrari isn't helping Massa one bit, and I think to be able to deal with Alonso, a driver needs to be able to adapt to a car that is made for Alonso, like Hamilton did. Both Hamilton and Alonso have similar driving styles so were able to drive just as fast as each other.

Then we need to look at Massa's 2011 season.

7th in Australia with the fastest lap.
5th at Sepang.
6th in China.
11th at Istanbul.
DNF in Spain.
DNF at Monaco.
6th in Canada after a backmarker didn't get out of the way causing Massa to drop from a potential podium finish.
5th in Valencia.
5th at Silverstone.
5th at Nurburgring where he was able to hold off against Vettel, for only a slow pit stop allowing Vettel to pass him.
6th a Hungaroring with the fastest lap.
8th at Spa after Alonso early on clumsily passed him, slowing Massa down allowing Hamilton to pass at the same time.
6th at Monza after being pitched into a spin by Webber.
9th in Singapore after getting a puncture from Hamilton.

So yes, in comparison to Alonso the results haven't been great, but this isn't all down to Massa being slower than Alonso or compared to him before his crash. The car lately really has been nothing short of off the pace.

Then we get back to the matter of Perez. This is his first season, he's had good results and is good on his tyres in a car that is easy on it's tyres. We don't know if he'll have a good 2012 or not.

In 2013 we have a HUGE change in regulations with the V6 Turbos coming back so that throws in more questions on if Perez is good and ready for Ferrari. It took Schumacher 5 years in F1 before he ended up at Ferrari. Alonso had 9 years in F1 before he went to Ferrari. Massa had 3 years before a rece drive with Ferrari, so Perez is in a similar posistion to where Massa was at the start of his career, if not almost identical. Massa was liked by Ferrari, Perez is in Ferrari's driver programe, both started their careers at Sauber, a team that apart from the BMW & Mercedes years have had ties with Ferrari.

I think that, if Ferrari can't make a good car for next year who knows if it won't be Massa saying "Bye Ferrari" looking for a better car. Perez might get promted for 2013 but I still think it's too early to say. Drivers doing well in their rookie season get this kind of attention. DiResta and Perez are in similar situations as well, with people taking about DiResta replacing Schumacher.

Lets see what Ferrari can give to their drivers for the remaning races and for 2012 because this will decide Massa's future at Ferrari.

 

[Georgios Apostolopoulos]

Kobayashi is much better than Perez, take Kamui, he is Kamikaze, i like him!

 

[David O'Reilly]

Very well written contribution thankyou David.
I agree with many of your points.
Alonso's clumsy move at Rivage in the opening laps at Spa was utterly disrespectful of a team mate who had out qualified him. I think back to an instance where Alonso squeezed past Massa at the entrance to the pit lane to get first service at the garage in a race.
Then yes the "Fernando is faster than you" episode. Further I really think that Ferrari are using Massa as a tactical tool against Hamilton eg Monanco Quali. Wearing his engine out more testing updates in free practice and the like.
He is given 2nd class treatment in such a way on and off the track and then his performance is compared critically to Alsono.
Ferrari have a balancing act because Alonso is not a happy lad when in a close battle with team mates.

 

[Péter Bártfai]

I think Perez will be better than Kobayashi in a short time. He already beaten him badly in a few races and considering this is his first season, it's not bad performance at all!

I would be happy if Massa got a seat in another fast car tbh! Where it's not everything about the other driver.

 

[Chris Preston]

Can't believe I went through all the posts and Di Resta's name only come up once?! He's finished 6th, 7th, and 8th in four races picking up 18 points in that time and is showing he can still compete even in a Force India car. I can't find the interview anymore but someone from Toro Rosso said that he was the most promising young driver out there and said he wishes he was on his team. Give him two more years and I wouldn't doubt he'd be a serious consideration for Ferrari or even Mercedes since Shumi will most likely retire at the end of the next season.

 

[Ross Balfour]

he's a good driver and deserves a seat

At Ferrari? No way I can think of 4 or 5 drivers that would merit a drive in Ferrari over him in a blink of an eye. He is half the driver of Massa and depsite him having a solid debut season, he doesn't shine out as a possible championship contender - while Ricciardo, Di Resta, Rosberg and even Senna would far better in the team than him. I know Ferrari want a weaker 2nd driver so Fernando can be #1, but out of the drivers I previously mentioned, only Rosberg could compete with him, the rest would be slower on raw pace anyway. I feel only Vettel and Hamilton match Alonso on raw speed - but on overall driving; Alonso is #2 in the world IMO.

 

[Francis Lanau]

TBH i think massa should move to a team that actually give a damn about him.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Trade Massa for Perez.
Keeps it in the Ferrari family, gives Ferrari a promising young Number 2 and gives Sauber a wealth of knowledge and experience.

 

[Prithvi R Shankar]

I really feel for Massa, remember that he has been one of the top class drivers in 2007 and 2008. But after the accident at Hungary in 2009 has somewhat remapped his driving abilities. And from 2010 he is alongside Alonso. This has caused a lot of pressure. Yes, He is not as good as Alonso but I think he he will be pretty competitive if he's given a good car. We can see clearly see in the Qualifying sessions, he's just a tenth slower than Alonso. And his race is messed up with unexpected events. Lets wait and watch what's going to happen in 2012. Maybe Ferrari will come up with a car better than the Red Bulls and the McLaren's or maybe Felipe will improve his skills. But i still, I dont think Perez is the best option yet.

 

[Luke McVicar]

Perez if anything is a work in progress, Ferrari probably just want to maybe get him before he peaks or he might end up somewhere else.

I think Perez has plenty of potentional but hes still vastly inexperienced, i got a feeling he might develop in the same fashion as Kubica, steadly improve then one season will just be instantly fast.

 

[Luke McVicar]

At Ferrari? No way I can think of 4 or 5 drivers that would merit a drive in Ferrari over him in a blink of an eye. He is half the driver of Massa and depsite him having a solid debut season, he doesn't shine out as a possible championship contender - while Ricciardo, Di Resta, Rosberg and even Senna would far better in the team than him. I know Ferrari want a weaker 2nd driver so Fernando can be #1, but out of the drivers I previously mentioned, only Rosberg could compete with him, the rest would be slower on raw pace anyway. I feel only Vettel and Hamilton match Alonso on raw speed - but on overall driving; Alonso is #2 in the world IMO.

Half the driver of massa? how do you know, massa is 30 and is reaching the stage where hes skills will slowly fade by age and not to mention hes easily 2nd driver status currently(hes scoring around the same points as the mercedes drivers), ferrari probably are in a better position to take a little risk to gain a reward because right now an average driver could do what massa is doing right now.

Besides i doubt half those drivers are as good as him and most of them are contracted to other teams or in there driver programs.

 

[Prithvi R Shankar]

Half the driver of massa? how do you know, massa is 30 and is reaching the stage where hes skills will slowly fade by age and not to mention hes easily 2nd driver status currently(hes scoring around the same points as the mercedes drivers), ferrari probably are in a better position to take a little risk to gain a reward because right now an average driver could do what massa is doing right now.

Besides i doubt half those drivers are as good as him and most of them are contracted to other teams or in there driver programs.

Your right, Ferrari need a driver who can match Fernando. They haven't done anything close to greatness since 2008. Perez is a good driver but he lacks the experience. I think Kubica would have replaced Massa in 2012 if Kubica hadn't had the rally accident.

 

[Péter Bártfai]

Before someone says an average driver could do what Massa does right now at Ferrari, remember how Fisichella jumped in his seat in 2009. (not talking about Badoer, as Badoer didn't race since '99, and even then he raced a Minardi)
Alonso is one of the best drivers, and the car is not one of the best cars at the moment, that's it.