• Ferrari

Massa retracts attack against new teams

ESPNF1 Staff
March 8, 2010 « Qatar states its F1 ambitions | »
Felipe Massa has clarified his stance on the new teams © Sutton Images
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Felipe Massa has backtracked on comments he made last week, claiming the influx of new teams is "not good for the sport".

Massa has concerns over the gap in speed between the top teams and the smaller ones and said, "it's not good for the sport and not good for them: it's like two different series." His comments came in the wake of a controversial column on his Ferrari team's website that slammed the involvement of the new teams and poked fun at some of their preparations.

However, Massa has moved to clarify his position and said the introduction of new teams is not necessarily bad if they can keep up with the rest of the field.

"I read the stories in the press that I spoke badly about the new teams," he told Brazil's Globo. "I didn't do that, I just said the time difference is too big. It cannot be good for anyone if a car is three seconds slower: not for the sport, for the people who watch, or for the teams themselves. But I am in favour of new teams coming in, because the more cars racing the better."

Newcomers Lotus and Virgin are expected to be around four seconds off the pace at the first race in Bahrain, while HRT has completed no pre-season testing.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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