Felipe Massa on Thursday insisted he is not Ferrari’s number two driver, confirming he is aiming for victory this weekend in Hungary.<\/p>\n
Since Hockenheim, where the Brazilian obeyed a team order to let teammate Fernando Alonso win, Brazilian cartoonists have depicted Massa as a puppet.<\/p>\n
“People will see him now as a ‘yes man’ who bends to the will of the company,” David Coulthard wrote in his latest Telegraph column.<\/p>\n
“And maybe they are right.\u00a0 Team player or stooge?\u00a0 The line is thin.”<\/p>\n
Mercedes’ Norbert Haug said at a pre-race press conference in Hungary that the application of a driver hierarchy can affect motivation.<\/p>\n
“If you say ‘you are number two’ … it’s a complex issue,” said the German.<\/p>\n
“If the drivers are not fully motivated you will not achieve anything.\u00a0 That needs to be kept in mind,” added Haug.<\/p>\n
Massa told reporters at the Hungaroring that he is aiming to win this weekend’s race, where last year he suffered life-threatening injuries in a qualifying crash.<\/p>\n
“The time I have to say I am the number two driver, I will not race anymore,” he pledged.<\/p>\n
Earlier, he arrived at the Budapest venue with Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.<\/p>\n
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