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Sweet dreams, Felipe?

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F1 Mole | 13:38 UK time, Wednesday, 4 March 2009

In Jerez, Spain.

Could you sleep through up to 130 decibels of raw engine noise?

Blocking out the incessant whirr of Formula One's speed machines seems to come more easily to some than others.

And there was one man who managed to catch more than 40 winks at the Jerez circuit when the heavy rain fell on Monday.

His name is Felipe Massa, and when Ferrari's hopes of running next season's tyres in dry conditions were ruined, the Brazilian driver took to his bed.

Felipe Massa looks less than thrilledMassa spent much of Monday's test session snoozing in Ferrari's motorhome, even though the five-star Montecastillo Resort where he is staying is right next to the circuit.

He eventually emerged in super-relaxed mood in the middle of the afternoon and later revealed that he had been plotting other ways to cut down on his workload.

The 27-year-old wants races to be shorter, reasoning: "In the last 15 laps nobody cares about the race".

If Massa's suggestion had been taken up in 2008, things could have been different for the Brazilian.

Let's see; instead of retiring from the Hungarian GP because of engine failure with three laps to go, he would have won the race and that would eventually have been enough to pip Lewis Hamilton to the 2008 title.

The Mole wonders if the Massa's siesta might have given him a few nightmares...

Comments

  • 1. At 4:43pm on 05 Mar 2009, Dave wrote:

    I would probably say he was just relaxing ahead of Tuesday and Wednesday's test sessions.

    I disagree about what Massa says (even though he is my favourite driver!).... if anything the last 15 laps if things are close can be the most exciting as the end of the race nears... we seen what happened in the last 15 laps brought at Belgium and Brazil. That'd be interesting.... remove the last 15 laps from every race last year (i.e. Australia '08 finished on lap 43 instead of 58) and tot up all the points. That would be an interesting blog entry. See who benefits most, or see who wakes up most at the end! ;)

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  • 2. At 2:54pm on 12 Mar 2009, garethdjones wrote:

    I think last season Kimi Raikkonnen benefited from the longer races. It wasn't until the second half of the race that he would get going. He set so many fastest laps in the latter stages of the races.

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  • 3. At 9:03pm on 14 Mar 2009, autosportek wrote:

    I think Massa asking for shorter races is a rue over last year at Brazil where he would have won. But I think if he works hard as last year he
    deserves to win this year. Now that Hamilton proved the critics wrong.

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  • 4. At 12:29pm on 23 Mar 2009, ferrari2009 wrote:

    the last 15 laps are the most interesting,BUT the middle 15 laps generally aren't

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  • 5. At 2:22pm on 30 Mar 2009, ferrari2009 wrote:

    if the brazilian grand prix had finished 15 laps earlier then hamilton would still be the world champian

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