- British GP - Race
Massa wants crackdown on Mercedes' slow formation laps
Felipe Massa has called for penalties in the future if Mercedes continue to lead the pack at a slow pace on formation laps.
Massa had a clutch issue at the start of the British Grand Prix and made a slow getaway before being collected by Kimi Raikkonen's crashed Ferrari on the Wellington straight. He said he had to stop twice on track during the formation lap because the pace being dictated by Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was so slow.
"All of these cars go very slow on the formation lap," he said. "We stopped on the track and my clutch went up to a very high temperature so it didn't work. I started to move the clutch, but the car went into anti-stall so I dropped to last [at the start].
"It is a shame because the start is never normally a problem and it would have been a good start and a good race because the car was flying. We would have finished on the podium and we would be third in the [constructors'] championship, so it is a shame what happened."
Massa said he has complained in driver briefings earlier this season, but that the FIA has not acted to penalise the Mercedes drivers.
"The FIA say we can't go so slow but they didn't do anything or penalise anyone. I think if they penalise one car for that by giving them a five grid penalty for the next race, everything will change. I stopped two times, I pulled the clutch and I was waiting because it was so slow. It was so slow we couldn't do burnouts. You cannot go slow just because you want to. For sure they do it on purpose and they have done it for most of the races, so they are doing it for a reason.
"We have complained at many races this year. At the last race [in Austria when Massa was on pole], I think if you check, it was much quicker than the normal races because I was in front. I'm sure it was much quicker than the other races.
"Mercedes go slow for a reason but it is sometimes bad for other teams, especially for us. My car was smoking at the rear on the grid and it is thanks to the slow formation lap."
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