Felipe Massa insists he does not regret helping Fernando Alonso – Formula 1 news
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has admitted that he does not regret helping his teammate Fernando Alonso by moving down five places on the grid in the United States Grand Prix.
Massa had qualified ahead of Alonso but the team deliberately broke his gearbox seal. He earned the five place penalty and that moved Alonso from eight to seventh on the good side of the track. Massa admits he had not felt happy initially but in the end
it was fine.
“It's not nice, you don't feel happy because giving away five places is not something that a driver is happy to do,” Massa said. “But I think I did the right thing for the team; I think this important so I think we need to be honest and I can say that I
am very. I did one of the best races of the season as well; starting 11th, finishing fourth, overtaking many cars on the track, it was really a fantastic race and it was the best for the team and for Fernando as well, so in the end it's fine.”
Massa says that it is never a good feeling for a driver to make such a decision and it might be really hard to find any other driver who will agree on doing so. He is pleased that he was helpful in keeping the championship fight alive for Alonso.
Despite falling behind at the back of the grid, Massa drove with a brilliant pace and finished the race in fourth place just behind Alonso. He added that his accomplishment feels almost like a victory.
Ferrari’s team principal, Stefano Domenicali, says that while others might think their strategy to be unfair but they did what was in the team’s best interest. He insists they were honest with the stewards about their intentions. He advises the drivers and
the teams to respect the decisions made for the team’s progress as the team is most important at the end of the day. He is thankful to Massa for agreeing and impressed by his driving capabilities.
Rival team Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, also supports their decision stating that they did nothing out of the rules.
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