- German GP - Race
Massa slams 'aggressive' Magnussen
Felipe Massa has blamed Kevin Magnussen for their first corner collision at the German Grand Prix, saying the McLaren driver was too aggressive.
Magnussen was on the inside of Massa going through Turn 1 and clipped his rear wheel as the Williams aimed for the apex. The accident flipped Massa into the air and pitched Magnussen into a spin, but the stewards at Hockenheim decided no penalties were needed, saying "there was not intentional turning in by car 19 [Massa] on car 20 [Magnussen]". The stewardeds added: "It appears the driver of car 19 [Massa] was concentrating on car 77 [Bottas who was ahead of Massa]".
"I just backed off a little bit, turned, started to do the corner and another car hit me on my tyres and flipped me over," Massa said. "For me it was strange because I didn't know there was a car there. I was in front so Magnussen should know that there were two cars there, and it is a corner where you cannot have three cars in the same corner. It is a very tight corner.
"For me, he was too aggressive. He tried to brake, but he tried when he touched me. When he saw that he was going to touch he braked and that was a problem because I was already on the gas and he braked and I jumped [up in the air when he hit me].
"I was doing my line. If you are doing your line and you are in front, the guy behind needs to see and to brake. I couldn't see him. My line was not so tight, my line was a normal line. If I saw him, for sure, I would do whatever I can not to cause the accident, but it was impossible to see him there. He knew that there were two cars there."
Massa said Magnussen should have read the situation and accused the McLaren driver of trying to win the race in the first corner.
"If I was in his position I would have backed off definitely. But [in my position] if I'd seen him and I know the way he is … what can I do? The problem is you cannot drive for yourself and another driver, you cannot drive for both.
"It's not the first time that he was involved in an accident on the first lap. Most of the time these young drivers want to win the race in the first corner and most of the accidents happen always with them."
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