Massa: Ferrari have too much pressure to win

Massa drove for Ferrari during the tail end of the John Todt era, helping Kimi Raikkonen to the title in 2007 and then with the Finn they claimed the 2008 constructors' title.

A decade since then they have had to play second fiddle, as first Red Bull and now Mercedes dominated with the Reds chasing in vain.

This year Ferrari started the season with a bang, two wins in the first two races signalled they had a title-winning package for their star driver Sebastian Vettel but, around mid-season, Mercedes and their title contender Lewis Hamilton turned on the heat and the Scuderia started to fumble.

Vettel made some critical mistakes at Hockenheim and Monza in particular, while the team tripped up with some strange strategy calls that cost them in both qualifying and race.

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Massa told Motorsport-Total, "We won the world championship in 2007, but the team has had problems since the 2008 season, they never recovered have never won a title again."

"When I left Ferrari at the end of 2013, it felt the same way at Maranello as it does today, pressure. Ferrari have too much constant pressure to win, thus the problems they have."

Consider the pressure Ferrari are under from Italian media united in trumpeting their scathing critiques at the team for botching their title challenge this year, but at least they were in the hunt.

For Italy, the Scuderia is more than a racing team, like their beloved Azzurri they are national treasures belonging to and answerable to their

Tifosi.

Meanwhile, mighty teams like McLaren and Williams wallow in the bog of oblivion - the back end of the F1 field - the British media occasionally fling a few barbs at them but nothing like the constant punches delivered by their Italian counterparts to their team.

Massa says the pressure affects the team to the point that collective panic surfaces at times, "Ferrari need to be able to work in a calm environment. They have to be very focused, they cannot be distracted. The team lacks only small things."

Beyond the track the season has been cruel for Maranello, they lost their charismatic and forceful leader Sergio Marchionne. In his place has come a, for now, anonymous duette consisting of Agnelli heir John Elkann and former Marlboro man Louis Camilleri.

Massa acknowledged that Marchionne's passing had a telling impact on the Italian outfit, "That was a big shock because he was an important part of the team. This affected everyone and of course that's understandable."

The veteran of 269 grand prix starts explained that Formula 1 is a team sport in which "drivers, engineers and management" lose together and win together.

"Everyone knows that at Maranello. Now the team has to recover from this and attempt end the season on a high because they need that," added Massa whose 11 grand prix victories were celebrated in red.

The Brazilian quit Formula 1 at the end of 2017 After taking a break for most of this year he will return to racing, in the 2018-2019 Formula E series with the Venturi Team, when he takes to the grid for the season opener in Riyadh on 15 December.