Felipe Massa has been transformed at Ferrari over the past five seasons from wild and woolly to silky smooth. But, after a middling 2010 and 2011, questions are beginning to emerge about his long-term potential.

Controlling affairs from the front, Massa can demonstrate metronomic perfection. What he has yet to prove is that he can turn bad situations round, and pull a victory from the hat.

After an amazing recovery from a freak on-track accident in 2009, Massa proved in early 2010 that he hadn’t lost his speed. But, as the season went on – and as new team-mate Fernando Alonso found his form – the hierarchy in Ferrari reverted to its natural state. The team orders debacle in Germany was massively demotivating for Massa. He will want to show that he’s fast enough to justify equal number 1 status, but that could make him overdrive the car, especially if the car is built around his Spanish partner.

It’s hard to tell where his head is. But if he does surprise everyone with incredible speed to challenge Alonso and the rest of the grid in 2012, it could provide the team with some very difficult political decisions.