Massa "finally comfortable" with car. Or is he?

Any Ideas?:  Massa and co. struggle to
understand the F2012

One the back of Saturdays Qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa announced himself as "finally comfortable" with Ferrari's 2012 challenger. This admission by Massa came despite his lowly grid spot of 12th; surely a position on the F1 grid  which should completely alien to a team such as Ferrari. So why has Massa declared himself happy?
On the back of an extremely disappointing 2011 campaign, Massa has become public enemy number one in the eyes of the Italy's volatile press and Ferrari fan-base (which incidentally happens to be the entire nation). Last weekends season opener did little to improve his reputation in Italy, having qualified distant from the top ten on Saturday and then eventually retiring his car with suspension damage after a clash with Brazilian compatriot, Bruno Senna.

Piggy in the Middle: Massa found
himself struggling in a torrid car in Oz

In-between last weekend in Australia and this weekends visit to Malaysia, Ferrari have gifted Massa with a new chassis, in an attempt to understand and subsequently get to the bottom of Massa's horrific ordeal down under. Now firstly, it is incredibly rare for a team to switch chassis' without immediate need, due to the differences in-between chassis'. Such differences may be extremely minute, but F1 is a game of absolute precision after all.  Secondly, such an alteration in set-up is littered with signs of desperation; last gasp, last chance saloon, and last roll of the dice all spring to mind unfortunately for the 2008 World Championship runner-up.
So is it any surprise that Massa has declared himself "comfortable"? Further blame on the car by Ferrari's firm number two driver would only result in an angered boss in the form of Luca De Montezemolo; of whom famously sacked the last driver to be too outspoken about his team's machine during the 1991 season. This driver was no less than the three time World Champion, Alain Prost. If De Montezemolo felt the need to sack a triple World Champion, he surely would have no queries about sacking an under-performing, out-spoken Brazilian.

In the Background: Massa has had to bask in the shadow of
Alonso since the latter's arrival at Maranello.

 What makes Massa's situation ever more difficult, is the man who he lines-up against in the Ferrari garage; Fernando Alonso is widely recognised (including me), as one of the finest racers in the paddock. Last year, Alonso out qualified Massa on no less than 13 occasions, and staggeringly beat the Brazilian 15 times out of 17 in terms of finishing position in the race. Luckily for Massa however, such was Ferrari's overall performance advantage over the rest of chasing pack (barring Red Bull and McLaren), Felipe was still often able to finish the the place behind Alonso yet ahead of the Mercedes and Force India's of this world. Such luxury looks to be lost for Massa this season however; with the top 8 qualifiers in today's (Saturday) qualifying session separated by a mere 0.8 seconds, the field  is much, much closer. As a result of this tasty situation, Massa finds himself behind not only Alonso, but other drivers and teams who have stolen a march on Ferrari in terms of early season pace and development.

Having looked into the situation for Felipe Massa, the word "comfortable" would seem a far-cry away from the currently shenanigans in around the Brazilians race seat at Ferrari. One can only assume that Massa is currently in a state of  self-defence in-front of the microphone as oppose to a state of jubilation, as the the former pace-setter battles to save his flagging career at the business end of Formula One.