Felipe Massa: Ferrari proving F1 teams don't need Newey types

Ferrari won only three races in the first three years of F1's hybrid-turbo engine era, with all of those victories coming in 2015, and has not won a title since the 2008 constructors' crown.

Despite parting ways with technical director James Allison midway through last year, Ferrari has hit the ground running in 2017 and leads the drivers' championship with Sebastian Vettel after two wins in the opening four races.

The manufacturer decided to prioritise the promotion of homegrown talent in the wake of Allison's exit and introduced a more horizontal structure within its technical department, overseen by Mattia Binotto.

Massa raced for Ferrari between 2006 and 2013 and said the team's upturn in performance has validated its new approach.

"I think Ferrari is doing something that nobody expected this year," he said.

"And that's really nice, that shows that it doesn't mean that, because you have Adrian Newey in your team, that everything will be better than everybody [else].

"I think if you just put the people to work together in different areas, even if they don't have a top name, they can do a good job."

With F1 increasing its aerodynamic dependency for 2017, and Red Bull talking of the new rules exciting Newey again, many expected Red Bull to lead the fight against the all-conquering Mercedes team.

Instead, Red Bull has one podium finish - Max Verstappen's strategy-assisted third place in the Chinese Grand Prix - from the four four races.

Massa said he was among those who thought the Milton Keynes-based outfit would be F1's best hope of a fight at the front.

"In November, if you ask me, I would say the only team that can fight with Mercedes is Red Bull," he said.

"In some of the races last year, Red Bull was doing a good job [and its Renault] engine was maybe still not great but getting better."

"Red Bull didn't do the right car. And Ferrari did it."