Massa slams wages cuts idea

Felipe Massa has slammed calls for Formula One teams to cut the wages of their drivers in a bid to help cut costs. The Ferrari driver, who finished the 2008 drivers' championships in second, just one point behind Britain's Lewis Hamilton, is reported to earn £8 million, around a third of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's salary.

"I'm not inclined to it," Massa said when asked about Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali's proposal to reduce driver earnings.

"In a competitive sport like this, the driver plays a fundamental part and the cost of the drivers are small compared to the total budget of the teams.

"The more people work to reduce costs, the better it is going to be for everybody."

Massa has also said he disagrees with the plan to introduce a standard engine, which FIA president Max Mosley wanted to see implemented by 2010 to drive down the running costs of teams estimated to be around £300 million mark.

"I do not find this idea interesting," said Massa. "The fight to diminish costs is important but a standard engine gets away from what F1 is all about – and it cannot happen.

"A Ferrari running with another engine – that is not a Ferrari. It is the same for Mercedes, Toyota or Renault." Yahoo Sports

[Editor's Note: F1 needs a standard Cosworth engine for the privateer teams. We recall when the F1 grid was dominated by standard Cosworth engines that gave the likes of Ferrari a run for their money. It made the sport better. Massa needs to take a reading comprehension class as he does not understand the proposal. Mosley's proposal is for a standard engine for any team that wants to use it and if Ferrari, Mercedes, Toyota, and BMW want to do their own engine, that is fine, but those engines cannot outperform the Cosworth. They can spend $100M a year on their own engine or $10M on the Cosworth. They won't go any faster, but for an extra $90M they can have the privilege of putting their name on the cam cover. Chump change in Massa's book it seems. What is his IQ?]