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Massa takes Hamilton to task after Singapore incident

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A collision during the Singapore Grand Prix that damaged cars and race strategies reignited bad feeling between the pair.

Recent history has had a habit of throwing Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton together, with the Ferrari and McLaren drivers frequently scrapping over the same piece of tarmac this year. Yesterday it happened in qualifying, with Massa saying 'I think he didn't use his mind again' after Hamilton had attempted a risky pass on their out lap. Today the pair went one worse, with Hamilton running into the back of Massa on lap 12 of the race. Massa limped back to the pits with a shredded right rear tyre, Hamilton got there slightly sooner through lack of a front wing. The McLaren man would also visit the pits again, to serve the drive-through penalty he was handed by the stewards for causing the incident.

After falling to the tail of the field Hamilton would recover to finish fifth while Massa had to settle for ninth. Hamilton did not comment on the incident immediately after the race, but the incandescent Massa made his feelings plain.

"There's no point in me hiding the disappointment and anger I feel at the end of a race that could have delivered a very different result," said the Brazilian. "The damage following contact with Hamilton penalised me a lot because I lost so much time in the early stages when the traffic was still very heavy. 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.

"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."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali sympathised with his driver: "Felipe could also have been up there with [fourth-placed Fernando Alonso] , but his race was ruined by the puncture caused by Hamilton: our Brazilian is definitely having an unlucky time of it at the moment and yet again, as in Monza, he had to fight his way back up the order through no fault of his own. Now we must roll up our sleeves and maintain our motivation for the remaining races of this season, in which our aim has to remain the same, namely to try and win some races."

Report courtesy fia.com