(Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)
Felipe Massa - pictured here arriving back home in his native Brazil last month - is confident he will race again next season
Felipe Massa has been out of the paddock for a few weeks and his enforced lay-off, as a result of the head injury he suffered during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, seems to have emboldened him.
Reviewing Jenson Button's string of lacklustre performances in the last five races, Massa has come to a clear conclusion that there is no problem with the Brawn GP car, it is Button himself who is misfiring.
Speaking during an interview at his home in Sao Paulo, the Ferrari driver who fought Lewis Hamilton for the title last season, did not pull his punches and underlined that his fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello could still end up being champion.
"Rubens has five races to close 16 points," said Massa. "It's a big possibility. But it depends on Jenson. If Jenson carries on in this bad way, it will help Rubens a lot. In my opinion, Jenson has gone down because of the pressure. It's the only reason.
"At the start of the season everything was nice, everything was easy," the Brazilian added. "Jenson was in a new team winning six out of seven races. That's different to fighting hard for the championship. Now he has a different kind of pressure. In the earlier races he was almost half a second quicker than some teams. You win the race easy and there is not so much pressure.
"But now we have races where things are more difficult. So, for me, the pressure has had a big impact on his mind and he needs to deal with it better."
Massa also revealed in the interview with The Guardian that he has not had a moment's doubt about returning to Formula One. The Brazilian's comeback has been put on hold until next year following a 4½-hour operation yesterday to insert a titanium plate into his skull.
"It is my life," said Massa. "For me, the worst thing that happened was not being able to race. If you can't drive that's terrible. But my wife has already asked me, at least ten times, 'Are you sure you don't feel any doubts or worries?' Always, I say, 'No, because this is what I like to do.'
"If I don't drive then I am not the same person. Ever since I was a small boy this is my life. This is what I like to do. So I really hope, and expect, nothing will change inside me when I go back into the car and start pushing myself to the maximum again."
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