• Singapore Grand Prix

Massa furious with Hamilton

ESPNF1 Staff
September 25, 2011 « Sauber disappointed with solitary point | Hamilton Snr blames son's management »
Felipe Massa: "I told you yesterday that he cannot use his mind" © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Felipe Massa was left fuming with Lewis Hamilton after the pair clashed during the Singapore Grand Prix, ruining his race.

They came together on lap 12 as Hamilton attempted to pass Massa and ended up clipping the Ferrari's right rear tyre with his front wing. The impact caused a puncture for Massa and decimated Hamilton's wing, forcing both cars to return to the pits just one lap after their first stops.

Hamilton was slapped with a drive-through penalty for the collision while Massa struggled to get his race back on track and eventually finished ninth. The incident came just one day after the pair nearly collided during an outlap in qualifying and Massa could not hide his anger following the race.

"My thoughts? Again, I told you yesterday that he cannot use his mind," he told BBC Sport. "Even in qualifying, so you can imagine in the race. What he did could have caused a big accident and he's paying for that - that's the problem he doesn't understand even paying for a problem. The problem was that I was in the middle so I got a puncture in my tyres and I paid a lot."

He added: "Again something happened with a guy who did [this] so many times with me this year. It's important that the FIA is looking and penalise him all the time he goes in the car because he cannot think about [it]."

In the media area after the race Massa tugged on Hamilton's shoulder and sarcastically congratulated him before storming off. He said he had tried to reason with the McLaren driver earlier bit had been ignored.

"After the race, I tried to talk to him to clear the air but he walked away without even answering: so I told him what I thought when we found ourselves in the interview area," Massa added in a press release.

He was also frustrated that his strategy failed to get him back up the order after the accident.

"On top of that, the Safety Car added to my troubles: I had changed tyres a few laps earlier and had fitted the Supersofts which definitely would not have got me to the end of the race, while other drivers were able to make the most of the race being neutralised to make their stop without losing too much time," he said. "In the end, first of all, I lost some time behind Barrichello and then I had to let Vettel by, which meant I was a lap down on him and had lost any chance of finishing seventh, given that Sutil and Rosberg in front of me were struggling with their tyres. I would really like to have a trouble free race at some point, something that I have not experienced recently, if you look at Monza for example. Today, a top six finish was definitely within reach."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close