LONDON,
England - Felipe Massa is lucky to have kept his seat at Ferrari.
That's the view of
Christian Horner, boss of Ferrari's chief championship rival in 2012 and new
champion team, Red Bull.
Asked if he would
have signed a new deal with Brazilian Massa in 2013, Horner admitted: "No,
I don't think I would have. It's a tough business and results-based."
He told the book
'The Official Formula 1 Season Review 2012': "You have to look at what the
guy in the other car (Fernando Alonso) - which we must assume is equal
equipment - is achieving."
REVIEWING THEIR OPTIONS
Horner said it was
obvious that Ferrari considered axing Massa, who made his Ferrari debut
to join Michael Schumacher in 2006.
"They obviously had a look at other
drivers - at least one of ours! - so they were obviously concerned about his
form, but their options seemed to become limited."
Horner said Sergio
Perez, eventually signed by McLaren for 2013 and beyond, initially seemed
"a shoo-in" for Massa's seat. "Then Felipe obviously picked up his
form in the last third of the year," he added. "They were
obviously deliberating - the messages coming out of Maranello confirmed that -
and probably when the music stopped they realised that the option they had was
best for them."
During Ferrari's
2012 Maranello Christmas party team president Luca di Montezemolo joked about
Massa's mid-season return to form. "I don't know where you went in the
first part of the year," he smiled at Massa, "but I am very pleased
you came back."