Italy mourns Massa's dwindling title dream

Pessimism of a turn-around at the season finale
21/10/08
Ferrari and Felipe Massa's hopes of securing the 2008 drivers' title is now just a slim possibility, the Italian press mourned after the Chinese Grand Prix.

By finishing just second to Lewis Hamilton's dominant McLaren last Sunday, Massa's points deficit blew out to seven points - meaning the Briton only needs to finish fifth at the season finale to be champion, irrespective of what his Brazilian rival achieves.

"Massa's dream for the world championship now comes down to hoping for a mistake by McLaren," said the sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Corriere dello Sport remarked: "Ferrari took a step back in Shanghai, and Massa has every reason to feel unhappy. Only a miracle can save his title now."

Tuttosport also agrees that Massa's gloom after Shanghai was justified.

"Massa is not the kind of driver to write an unforgettable chapter in Formula One history, but he is an intelligent guy. He knows that this was his biggest chance to realise his dream of the title," the Turin-based sports newspaper said.

However, La Repubblica believes the majority of the pressure is now with Hamilton, particularly after he went into last year's season finale with an identical seven-point championship advantage.

"Hamilton and the ghosts of the past," the headline exclaimed. "He can now only lose the title."

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali acknowledges that even if Massa is able to capitalise on a Hamilton mistake in Brazil, the F2008 needs to bounce back to top form.

"We cannot be fighting for the titles in Brazil if our car is less competitive and with such a big gap to McLaren," he said after China, where Hamilton was utterly dominant.
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