Ferrari will fly a brand new chassis out to Malaysia for the second round of the 2012 championship, in the hope it will help Felipe Massa to more closely match his team-mate.
The Brazilian qualified 16th in Australia, but failed to progress on Sunday and finally a collision with Bruno Senna on lap 46 resulted in his retirement, whilst Fernando Alonso finished 5th after a drive which many have applauded.
A statement on the team’s website reveals that a new chassis, number 294, will be prepared for Massa to enable the outfit to rule out an irregularities with the F2012 he drove last weekend.
“Felipe has certainly been the target of criticism after the race in Albert Park,” read the statement. “But the Brazilian driver is used to this situation.
“Felipe knows he can count on the team to do everything, both from the technical and the operational point of view, to put him in a better state to show off his talents – even at the cost of extra work in these few days that separate the Australian race from the one in Malaysia,” it continued.
“Work has already begun in the Sepang pits to prepare chassis number 294, which replaces the number 293 and will be used by the Brazilian in the second race of the season.
“This choice was taken to clear up any doubts about the unusual performance of his car during the weekend at Albert Park,” it explained.
