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Ferrari dissent towards Massa grows

Felipe Massa is currently 17th in the drivers' championship while his team-mate Fernando Alonso is the joint leader © Sutton Images

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Felipe Massa's seat at Ferrari appears to be even less secure after the team announced it is "expecting a change of gear" from him immediately.

After his second place in Spain, Fernando Alonso sits joint-top of the drivers' championship with 61 points and one race victory. In stark contrast, however, Massa continues to underperform and has scored only two points all season so far, while he is still yet to make it through to Q3 this year. An article on the Ferrari website now hints at patience running out within the team, calling for an improvement in Massa's performances "starting right away."

"As for an analysis of the Scuderia's performance and its two drivers, Fernando has always maintained a very high level (67 points and second place in 2010, 51 and fifth place last year) while Felipe's drop off has made itself felt. The Brazilian had picked up 49 points two years ago and 24 the following year, while so far this season he has just 2. In Montmelo, Felipe was very unlucky, both in the race and in qualifying, but everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco Grand Prix, his second home race, given that he lives just a few hundred metres from what, as from next Sunday, will be transformed into the paddock for the sixth round of the 2012 championship."

It's not the first show of dissent from Ferrari after the team also admitted on Twitter that it was "disappointed with Felipe" following his poor qualifying performance in Spain, though it subsequently told the Sunday Times "It was a poor choice of grammar. We are disappointed in the outcome of Felipe but not with Felipe himself."

In recent weeks Sergio Perez and Paul di Resta have been linked with a switch to Ferrari, while Mark Webber has also been touted as a possible replacement for Massa in 2013.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.