Massa: Schu lucky to avoid 09 Ferrari

Date published : 06 Mar 2010 - 20:11:28

Felipe Massa says his former team-mate Michael Schumacher was 'lucky' that his planned comeback with Ferrari last summer fell through, as he would not have been competitive in the difficult 2009 Ferrari.Schumacher had initially offered to deputise for Massa after he suffered a fractured skull in his Hungaroring crash.But when medical checks found that a neck injury from a motorcycle crash had not fully healed, Schumacher had to call off his return - although the Ferrari discussions had reawakened his enthusiasm for racing in Formula 1 and ultimately led to his dramatic full-time return with Mercedes this year.Schumacher's comeback had created huge excitement about the 2010 season - but Massa reckons it would have been an anti-climax if the seven time champion had attempted to wrestle speed out of the 2009 Ferrari with which eventual substitutes Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella struggled so badly."I was not sure it was the right time for Michael, because our car was not so quick as he'd had in the past," Massa told the Independent newspaper."I think he was lucky."Massa formed a close friendship with Schumacher earlier in his career - initially when he was testing for Ferrari as the German swept to title after title, and then when they were team-mates in 2006.Schumacher became a mentor to Massa, and the Brazilian is looking forward to racing against him again this year, albeit as rivals in different teams."He has an incredible talent to analyse, and I watched him very carefully," Massa said. "He was the complete driver; aggressive, quick, consistent."He also had a lot of luck. When you're good, you have luck."And he was a good team-mate."It will be a nice experience to race against him again, because he is a great driver, one of maybe four or five great drivers out there."