Q: He really is hopeless, he just doesnt seem to be able to control the car without traction control. He has thrown it off the track completely of his own fault 2 races in a row ie the first two races he didnt have TC bailing him out. Eddie Irvine may not have been as fast but at least he knew his limits and could always be called upon to deliver points. If Ferrari lose the constructers this year it will most likely be down to Massas mistakes. Who do you think will replace him as there is very little chance he will be there next year now that Jean Todt isnt protecting him anymore?
A: One of the worst ever Ferrari drivers? I'm going to have fun with this one. 104 drivers have driven for Ferrari at a GP weekend. 14 of those never qualified a Ferrari for a GP. Of the remaining 90, 26 never scored a point for Ferrari. Of the remaining 64, 10 didn't get a podium finish with Ferrari. Of the remaining 54, 18 didn't win for Ferrari. That leaves 36 Ferrari GP winners, of which Massa is one. Of the other 35... He's definitely worse than: Schumacher, Lauda, Ascari, Raikkonen, G.Villeneuve, Ickx, Reutemann, Prost, Fangio, Mansell, Andretti, Bandini, Brooks and Farina. He's probably worse than: Surtees, P.Hill, Scheckter, Arnoux, von Trips, Pironi and Alesi. He's about the same level (given that some drivers were more consistent, some were faster) as: Berger, Regazzoni, Irvine, Barrichello, Hawthorn, Collins, Trintignant, Alboreto and Tambay. He may be better than: Musso, Taruffi, Scarfiotti, Baghetti and Gonzalez. That puts him somewhere between 22nd and 31st of Ferrari's GP winners. Of the notable others who drove for Ferrari without winning, he isn't as good as: Amon, Ginther, Gurney, Gendebien, R.Rodriguez, Behra and Bell either, so I'd place him somewhere in the top 40 Ferrari drivers of all time, but not in the top 30... To answer the rest of the question: no, they won't kick out Massa before the end of the season. No better, proven drivers are available to replace him. If he doesn't win the title this year then he will be replaced by Alonso for 2009 anyway.