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Massa Warns No 2 Role at Ferrari Not Forever

Felipe Massa insisted that he will not become a second Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari. Following rumors suggesting he agreed to play second fiddle to Fernando Alonso for the duration of his 3-year contract with the Scuderia, the Brazilian driver made it very clear that should the team ask that of him in the future, he'll rather retire from racing than follow team orders.

For sure I am not Ferrari's second Rubens Barrichello. If that happens, I will stop driving. I'm not going to go racing to be eligible for second place,” said Massa in a recent interview with Germany's Sport Bild.

Although he started the season on equal footing with his new teammate, Massa failed to score consistently good results throughout the 2010 campaign, meaning he'll now have to help Alonso in the title fight. Nevertheless, he insisted he will not go over a Hockenheim situation again, but only help the Spaniard if he's behind him in the race.

If I am in front of the other drivers, but behind Fernando so that I can take away points from his rivals, that is of course positive for Fernando. That's what I'll try to do,” further admitted the 29-year old racer.

Additionally, he made it very clear that it's not Alonso's great driving but rather his poor performances that got him this lieutenant role for the remainder of the 2010 season, as the new technical changes for the current year – mostly regarding the tires – have affected his driving form.

Fernando is very good, definitely. But he is not better than my other teammates (Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen). It's just myself not being as good as usual. I have had big problems with the tires. For my driving style, even the soft tires are too hard. And I'm sure many other drivers have had the same problem,” admitted Massa.
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