Felipe Massa exasperated by Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa engaged in an intense fight at the Japanese Grand Prix. The pilot of the Team was fighting with the Briton for fourth place when the two drivers collided in the last chicane of the Japanese circuit, indirectly causing the safety car to enter due to a piece of debris from the front wing of the F150° Italy. This incident comes after a previous contact at the Singapore Grand Prix where both drivers damaged their car.

The pilot McLaren claims for his part not to have seen Felipe Massa approaching his MP4-26 when he moved to the left. “The only thing I can say is that I can't see anything outside of my mirrors and they were vibrating so I had no idea it was there”, comments the Briton. "Maybe we can get along, I don't have any problem with him anyway." »

Felipe Massa, for his part, is much more eloquent and encourages the FIA ​​to judge the driving of the 2008 world champion more harshly. “To be honest, I don’t care what Hamilton says”, retorts the Brazilian. “The only thing that matters is what he did. He was slow in the 130R and stayed on the right side. I was much faster and I took the left side to brake. I stayed on my line but he moved and hit me. I don't care what he says, it's what the federation says that matters to me. »

“They penalized drivers for much less serious maneuvers this year and they didn’t do it this time”, deplores the Scuderia pilot. “This is the second time in a row after the problem in qualifying and in the race last time, without forgetting what happened the day before (Lewis Hamilton hampered several drivers in Q3). The FIA ​​must be careful. I don't have to talk to him because he doesn't learn anything. He already refused to speak to me when I tried to explain myself to him. Maybe I'll chat with Charlie (Whiting, the FIA ​​race director) if I see him. »

Lewis Hamilton was not penalized by the FIA ​​after inspection by race stewards.

Find the analysis of our special correspondents with 26 pages on the Japanese Grand Prix, including 10 devoted to the new world champion, in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, on sale from Wednesday.