Barrichello Knows Massa's Winning Secret

For the last 2 races, Ferrari's main driver seems to be Felipe Massa and not Michael Schumacher. The German abandoned the Hungarian GP and only finished 3rd in Turkey 2 weekends ago. All together, Massa managed to score 12 points in the last 3 weeks, while Schumacher only brought home 7.

Massa won his first Formula One GP in Turkey and the success couldn't have had a better timing. A few days from now, the Italian team will announce its new staff for the next season and Massa may very well continue with Ferrari for one more season.

Still, his success in Istanbul seems to have a logical explanation. As long as the next driver after Massa was not teammate Michael Schumacher, the Italian did not have to worry about letting the German pass him and focused only on winning. As a paradox, Renault's second place - taken by Alonso - helped Massa win the race.

And who better to know this than former Schumacher teammate Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian, now driving for Honda, knows best that, when running before Schumacher, Ferrari staff orders you to let the German pass you. This is the main reason why Barrichello failed to win races. Whenever first in the race, he had to settle for 2nd in team's priority.

"Massa drove very well and did exactly what needed to be done: he put someone in between him and Michael. If that hadn't happened, we know how the story would have ended considering how things work at Ferrari. The important thing is that he won and the celebration we had on Sunday night was worthwhile", said Barrichello.

The Brazilian infuriated the Ferrari officials one time, during that famous Australian GP in 2002. Barrichello started out perfectly in the race and led before Schumacher for most of it. Still, he refused to let the German pass him when coming into the last few laps. Then, only meters to the finish line, he suddenly hit the breaks and let Schumacher clinch the win. That was the first time Barrichello signaled his disappointment towards Ferrari's strategy.