Receiving a special career achievement award from the sister of Italian racer Lorenzo Bandini, Felipe Massa admits that he is used to speculation over his future.

The Lorenzo Bandini Trophy - Trofeo Lorenzo Bandini - is awarded each year in memory of the Italian racer who perished in a horrendous accident at Monaco in 1967.

Established in 1992 by Bandini's hometown of Brisighella, and awarded to an outstanding figure from the world of motor racing, previous recipients have included Jacques Villeneuve, Luca di Montezemolo, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

This year the award was presented to the son of the founder of Ferrari, Piero Ferrari. Receiving the award today on behalf of the Vice President was Massimo Rivola who was accompanied by chief designer Simone Resta, who was awarded the Fonderie Morini Gold Medal, as well as Massa, who was also honoured, receiving a special career achievement award from Bandini's sister, Gabriella.

"It is an honour and a pleasure to receive this recognition," said Felipe, a previous recipient of the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy. "I was already here in 2007 and I was able to appreciate the passion that drives the organisers of such a prestigious award aimed at all us drivers. I am proud to be here representing Ferrari in the year of the twenty fifth anniversary of the death of Enzo: if he had not created the most famous car company and brand in the world, we would not be here. It would have been wonderful to have known him personally."

Looking ahead to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, he added: "Let's hope this award brings us luck, because Monza is a special point in the season, where we must get a good result. For me, this is a second home race after the one in Brazil: my family originally comes from Italy, so I have a special feeling for this event. The support one gets from the fans is fantastic and we really hope we can give them something to cheer about. In Belgium, the F138 was better than in previous races and we hope the updates we will have at the track can help us make a further step forward, both in the race and in qualifying, not just in Monza, but for the rest of the season."

Inevitably, the topic of his own future cropped up, many speculating that the Brazilian will make way for Kimi Raikkonen or Nico hulkenberg.

"I'm used to this situation, as it's been like this since I started my career," he joked. "The rumours mean nothing, all that matters is the faith the team has in me and I feel that very strongly. I know I must have a better second half of the season, after a first one where unfortunately, the results were lacking in some races, but the performance has always been up there. I think I still have a very strong chance of staying with Ferrari."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Skidmarks, 02/09/2013 20:46

"In my previous comment, I neglected to say congratulations to Piero Ferrari and Simone Resta. "

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2. Posted by Skidmarks, 02/09/2013 20:40 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 02/09/2013 20:46)

"As an unashamed Ferrari fan, and also a Massa fan, I believe that his time has passed. In the "if only" world had he held that World Championship for more than a few seconds, I think that he would have come back from his accident faster and stronger than he did.

Ferrari have never been sentimental about drivers, (possibly Lauda and Villeneuve excepted), but they have given Massa more chances than I expected them to do. I hate to say it, but I think that there are quite a few drivers who would jump at the chance to be #2 at Ferrari, knowing that they would not be allowed to race against the #1 and do a better job than he is doing at the moment.

At the same time, Alonso is driving that car to positions better than it deserves, so perhaps Ferrari do not want someone else to come into the team and show how bad it is? "

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3. Posted by The Rumble Strip, 02/09/2013 20:14 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 02/09/2013 20:46)

"I think so too.

It’s true that Massa’s form, in recent years, has been nothing like his 2008 best but on his day he still
remains a very capable F1 driver.

Working on the assumption that Ferrari will run a lead driver and a competent number two, who will be apolitical and bag points then Massa fits the bill perfectly and has the added advantage of continuity being on his side.

I’ve long been a fan of the theory that a team should not replace a driver unless it can be sure that their replacement will do just as good or an even better job than the current incumbent and whilst you could put any number of drivers into that second Ferrari seat, I’m not sure that any of them would fill that middle ground quite as well as Massa would."

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Massa: Rumours mean nothing at all

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