Massa advises Rubens to retire

Felipe Massa has advised Rubens Barrichello to retire from Formula 1 if he needs to be searching for sponsors to secure a drive for next year.

Williams driver Barrichello has no deal in place for the 2012 season ahead of the final race of the year in Brazil this weekend.

Barrichello has admitted he is not facing his home race as his final F1 grand prix, as he is still hopeful he will secure a drive for next year, which will be his 20th season in Formula 1.

Ferrari driver Massa, however, believes Barrichello has had what he labelled as an incredible career, and he reckons his compatriot should use this weekend's race to have a "proper" retirement from the sport.

"I did give him an advice: to quit," the Brazilian told TotalRace in an interview. "To me, Barrichello had an incredible career in F1: the driver who competed in most GPs and with many wins under his belt. It is a career most drivers would dream to have.

"He raced for the best teams in F1. I haven't advise him to quit because I feel he is old or something like that. But today in F1 there are 12 teams, and five or six are asking for money to give a seat. I think this is absurd.

"My opinion, which I told him, is that I can't see Barrichello searching for sponsors to race after all he had achieved in F1.

"I told him to quit and to use this last race to have a proper ending. But I know he will do what he thinks is the best for him and, as a friend, I will support him and hoping for the best for him."

source : autosport

I think Felipe needs to consider taking his own advice because he could be in Rubens' position very soon

I can name 9 worse drivers then felipe on the grid right now so i wouldn't worry just yet if i was him

Liuzzi
Ricciardo
Glock
Custard
Trulli
Buemi
Senna
Petrov
Rubens
Maldonado

Agree Rubens needs to retire and it's a great way to bow out of F1 in front of his passionate & supportive home crowd. It will be interesting though if Massa finds himself in the position he was this season, way off the pace and playing second fiddle to Alonso. Would Ferrari bring Kubica (who potentially would be Ferrari test driver or without a drive) in to replace him mid-way through 2012 in preparation for a full seat in 2013?

Belgarion of Riva wrote:I think Felipe needs to consider taking his own advice because he could be in Rubens' position very soon

My initial thought also. Rubens needs to advise Massa to retire.

I actually think Williams would be wrong to drop Rubens next season, unless they have a genuinely good up-and-comer to take his place. If they're going to replace him with another Maldonado / GP2 clone, who just happens to bring a lot of sponsorship with him, their results next season will suffer even more...unless their new car is significantly better.

If its just money they're after, then good luck to them, but given there aren't any better drivers out there, wanting to drive for them, I think Williams should keep him for at least another season.

However, if they do drop him, I'd like to see him bow out gracefully. I'd hate to see him end somewhere like Virgin or HRT. Perhaps he could do what Schumacher did after he retired at Ferrari and become a test driver / technical consultant?

Critical_mass wrote:

Belgarion of Riva wrote:I think Felipe needs to consider taking his own advice because he could be in Rubens' position very soon

My initial thought also. Rubens needs to advise Massa to retire.

The difference is that Massa is over 10 years younger and still has a fair amount of racing left in him...and that his performances have suffered as a result of playing second fiddle to his team mate.

What could work well is for Barrichello to retire and become a consultant / ambassador for Williams and Massa take his seat as lead driver, or at least on equal footing with Maldonado. I really think he'd get his mojo back, having the freedom to race without worrying about being told to move over for his team mate.

Massa needs a new team to cure his woes, that's it. Its funny how Alonso has that effect on people.