Felipe Massa announced tonight on Twitter that he would be leaving at the end of the year, and thanked his team and family for supporting him through 8 turbulent years.
Just Massa packs away his office supplies, the last man to win a world championship at Ferrari has came home, beating people like Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta for the seat.
The BBC has announced that Kimi Raikkonen has signed a one year deal with the option for 2015. As I mentioned previously the ideal scenario for Kimi would have been Massa as a team mate, but the prospect for a Kimi Raikkonen-Fernando Alonso line up is indeed mouth watering from the outside.
Inside our wonderful world of Formula 1 though, it creates a certain fear in the mind. Who gets the number 1 spot? I can't remember a time when Ferrari even thought of an equal driver policy. It's either on or the other and if Luca di Montezemolo & Stefano Domenicali had any sense they would give Raikkonen the role of number 1 driver.
He'll be a fresh albeit returning face, but he'll create a whirlwind of excitement for the Tifosi and the Ferrari team in Italy. At the end of the day, Alonso has nil championships at Ferrari, Kimi has 1. Fernando may have two overall but any bets should be with Kimi.
It would be hard not to be sad for Massa. I've never been a huge fan of him but I've always respected him. But I guess when your time comes you'll know about it. Here is is farewell message on Instagram:
"From 2014 i will no longer be driving for Ferrari. I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible moments experienced together. Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my Sponsors. From each one of you I have always received a great support! Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining 7 races. For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the Championship which remains my greatest objective! Thank you all. Felipe"
The person who will probably miss him more than Fernando Alonso is poor Rob Smedly. They were like brothers and can you honestly imagine Rob talking any nonsense from Kimi over the radio?
The bottom line is, Kimi still has championship potential in him. The key factor in all of this is James Allison. He is the most important factor for 2014. The fact him and Kimi are back together again can only mean positive things.
I am honestly so excited for next season that I do not give a damn about this season. Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel should be very, very worried. That's only if the Alonso-Raikkonen situation is managed very carefully.
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