Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 16:56:00 2008
All the reaction from the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, including Felipe Massa's denial that he deliberately hit title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari, 7th): "He [Hamilton] braked very late and I braked very late, and then I was a little bit wide in the first part of the corner. Then he had my inside line and pushed me a little bit wide in the gravel. We then just touched each other, so in my opinion it was a racing incident. But we had a drive-through penalty, and we paid it. It was definitely not [deliberate]: I had two wheels on the gravel. I could not stop the car and I was on the gravel because he pushed me into the gravel. For him yes [the penalty was fair]; for me I am not sure."
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, 12th): "I made a mistake at the first corner and I paid for it. Then Felipe hit me off. I left room on the apex of turn 11 but he hit me pretty hard. We both got the same penalty - I didn't hit anybody but he did. I guess that's the name of the game. I don't think it makes any difference [to the title race]. I lost one point today [later changed to two after post-race penalty for Sebastien Bourdais] which is, I guess, damage limitation. We'll move on to next week. We'll still be as competitive and we are going to make sure we win the last two races."
Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso, 10th): "For me it's very clear. [When] I exit the pits I am supposed to be careful and I was. I stayed inside and I didn't push him [Massa] out; I didn't overshoot the corner: I did everything I could not to run into him and he just squeezed and turned and behaved like I didn't exist, like I wasn't there. What am I supposed to do? I've been in this position many, many times and I never had any incidents. It's just a little bit of respect, you give each other room and then everything goes right, but if you don't there's going to be an incident. The position he is in, fighting for championships, you just don't take unnecessary risks. Why would you even think about doing something like that? I don't understand."
Fernando Alonso (Renault, 1st): "It's still difficult to believe what we have done today: winning in Singapore was unexpected, but we benefited from special conditions. Today we won again on a circuit that was not supposed to suit us. The team has really done a remarkable job to fight back this season and we are now the third strongest team. It's unbelievable and I am extremely happy this evening. Anything is possible now in the last two races."
Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber, 2nd): "My start was good but the clutch slipped a little, therefore Jarno Trulli was able to pass me on the straight. I then decided to take the inside line and braked too late and locked the front wheels. But then everybody went wide while I was more or less able to keep my line, and after the second corner I was in front. My tyres were graining and I lost time... after the pit-stop, Fernando Alonso was in front of me and I was not able to match his pace. At the beginning of the final stint I came under strong pressure from Kimi Raikkonen and we had a great fight. At one point he was beside me in corner two, but I was on the inside and didn't back off and was able to keep him behind. We have been struggling a little bit recently and we were under pressure from some teams, so this second place is a real boost for our morale."
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari, 3rd): "I got a pretty good start but then braking into turn one I was trying to turn and there was first one McLaren and then a second. Both hit me and I had nowhere to go other than straight. I lost many places and had some damage on the front. [Late in the race] I was fighting against Robert... I had a few tries to get past him. He went to the inside and I didn't have anywhere to go, we got side by side but I knew that if nobody lifted in turn three I had no option but to run off the circuit."
Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault, 4th): "I am very happy with this great result for the team. I had a bit of luck at the start, but after that the car handled really well: I was on the pace and I just had to remain concentrated and keep pushing. The team is having a really strong end to the season and I hope that is going to continue."
Jarno Trulli (Toyota, 5th): "We have to be happy with that today, but I wanted to give a bit more both to the team and to all the Japanese fans who cheered us on. I was really hoping that we could make the podium but this fifth place was all that we could have done this afternoon. We've been competitive all weekend and the car was good again in the race but the lower temperatures didn't help us."
Mark Webber (Red Bull, 8th): "After a poor start, which put me at the back, I had a good first stint - passing Heidfeld twice, amongst others. The second stint was difficult pace wise as I was having a tricky time on the options. Felipe had fresh tyres towards the finish and also a faster car, so I knew it would be difficult to keep him behind me as his traction was so much better. I pushed him to the limit when he made his overtaking move, but that"s what it"s about, trying to get another point for the team. It was too difficult against his car though and he passed me."
Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber, 9th): "Compared to the Williams cars in front of me, my start was okay, but the Hondas behind got off the grid even better. There was an awful lot of traffic in the first corner and I was lucky to get through all the hassle. I was on a one-stop strategy and it was not easy to handle the heavy car."
Nico Rosberg (Williams, 11th): "Our start was poor due to a technical problem so I just fell to the back of the pack. I was also quite heavy with fuel. I'm satisfied with my performance and it was actually good fun out there today. I gave it 100 per cent and was as quick as Heidfeld, who was on the same strategy. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to score any points."
Rubens Barrichello (Honda, 13th): "I had a great start to the race today, passing three or four cars on the way down to the first corner and was able to hold the position well. Unfortunately I was then hit from behind by Fisichella which damaged the rear end of the car and affected the balance for the remainder of the race. From then on, we were really limited by the poor performance and pace of the car."
Jenson Button (Honda, 14th): "Unfortunately going with the option for my first stint didn't work well and I really suffered from this in the early laps. I was passed by a few cars around the first lap and from then on had graining on the front and rear tyres which meant I was slow through the corners and we couldn't compete on straight-line speed, particularly with a heavy fuel load. Once we put the prime tyre on for the second stint, the balance was much better, but by then it was impossible to catch up and make progress."
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams, 15th): "That was a shame. It was very disappointing to have an accident at the first corner, but I couldn't do anything about it. After the incident, I just tried to do my best for the rest of the race. I don't think our race pace was that great, though, so I couldn't make any progress. We need to go away and work on our performance to see where we can improve for the next time."
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren, retired): "Kimi initially jumped Lewis [at the start] and then I think Lewis was trying to fight back. They both went a bit deep and I also went a bit deep. I thought it was just a normal first corner. I think so [Hamilton's move was clean]. But I am not the right person to make any calls: I am just a driver, not a judge. I suffered an engine failure. The car has been reliable but sometimes these things happen - metal flying from the exhaust is never a good sign."
David Coulthard (Red Bull, retired): "Into turn one I was trying to go down inside of Bourdais and naturally he came back in towards the apex and there was a bit of bumping and grinding. We accelerated out and into turn two - it was probably the suspension that went and I flew into the barrier. It'll be a new chassis for the next race."
Adrian Sutil (Force India, retired): "Suddenly on the straight the tyre blew and I had to stop the car. It was a shame as we were running 10th and it was feeling really good. We had a fantastic start - from 19th to 11th at the end of the first corner as I stayed to the inside and clear of all the problems, and I was in 10th position within a couple of laps."
Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India, retired): "The start was fantastic for me and I managed to overtake a lot of people. At the first corner there was a lot of mess and cars slowing down a lot - and I touched Barrichello at the back and damaged my front nose slightly. I decided to stay out and it was looking good. We were considering a one-stop strategy which was much more comfortable and I was having a good race, but then unfortunately at the end I had a problem with the gearbox and seventh gear. At least we are fighting again."
Timo Glock (Toyota, retired): "Following David Coulthard's accident it felt like I drove over some of the debris. After that the car felt strange and in the end I lost the car on the kerb at the exit of turn six. I went over the grass and the car launched through the air. When I landed it felt like something broke."
Comment 48 - 67 of 87
Massa was penalised for hitting Hamilton--OK.
Hamilton was penalised for forcing the Ferarris off the track at turn 1.(Actually I thought it was Heiki who did that?)
Bourdais was penalised for Massa's mistake at the pit exit--unbelievable!
Massa gets moved up the Championship table!
Makes me SICK!
John K: Put M. Schumacher in a Force India and he would be at the back of the grid too. It's a sad fact that all of the drivers are within a couple of per cent of each other and the car is responsible for the other 98% of the difference. Also which driver was so reckless that he hit SB coming out of the pits when SB had nowhere to go. Read SEB's Comments at the top of this page. The winner of the championship should be the one who makes the least mistakes and both LH and Massa fail on that reckoning. I hope that Kubica pulls of the steal of the decade and wins.
The bottom line is that Hamilton is reckless, look at Canada. Who slams into another driver in the pits. At the start he must of been crying or something cause he cut his own team mate off just for the position he couldn't hold on to. Lets be real people he is a dollar store champion with a grat car. Put that idiot in a force india car and he wont do a thing. Now a real champion is Fernando Alonso. I hope he stays with Renault and wins the world title again. And Hamilton did push Massa off the track, you have to be blind not to see that. The bottom line is Hamilton is reckless to his team, to car he does not even own, and to the other driver. Look at the aggresion at Monza. Who does that it was over and his final position proved that Vettal was the man that day. Lewis you are a brit and all of you are the same stuck up snobs. Boo Hamilton Go Alonso.
GOOD LUCK PREETTY ALONSO MOST SKILLFULL DRIVER IN THE CIRCUS
wot a bunch of frustrated little schoolgirl drivers
Alonso will be back where he belongs in the next race down the field,he's had alot of luck in the last 2 races ıt won't last.Hamilton is leading the championship because he's the best driver,Alonso is just jealous,typical Spaniard.So long as Hamilton does'nt make any more stupid mistakes like he did yesterday he'll be fine.C'mon Lewis it's there for the taking you deserve it.
Pond Life: RE: Post 53: If you don't like the truth backed up by reasoned argument then you don't have to read these posts. Why don't you f#ck #ff to a different site. You have never posted a relevant comment, you only slag off other people if they are not sycophantic Ferrari supporters.
Easyrider: Have complained to Yahoo about invalid comments. You have to log off and log on again. This should cure the problem until the next time!
Pond Life: RE: Post 53: If you don't like the truth backed up by reasoned argument then you don't have to read these posts. Why don't you f#ck #ff to a different site. You have never posted a relevant comment, you only slag off other people if they are not sycophantic Ferrari supporters.
Easyrider: Have complained to Yahoo about invalid comments. You have to log off and log on again. This should cure the problem until the next time!
Pete.. Toon Army u're reding only those. Loads of us are looking at the massa bourdois incident & are scratching our heads.
It seems that everybody thinks everyone against Hamilton to win, but I am so sorry to tell that if Hamilton doesnt win the title, it is his own fault.... don't blame anyone. No one hit other car in the pit stop, only Hamilton, no one stop his car when come to pit stop, only Hamilton, and no one so reckless and not considered other people safety more than Hamilton. I think Lewis is a great driver and he will be the champion, but he need to grow up and not become a brat like now. Its not gonna help him on the race, its only help him on the press. I feel sad....
rick m i say it every single time you post, your an absolute @#$%!
Hamilton is stll an inmature brat, and everyone in the paddock, including the pilots, think the same. He should have won today: he has one of the best cars, he has in the pole position and all he can do is mess up and quarrel against everybody. BIG CHOKER! Had he been penalised last year as he is deservedly being this year, he wouldn't have got that far as second in 2007.
Made a good comment, criticising F and had it marked up "Invalid"! Has FIA/Ferrari take over the Yahoo Board Now? Don`t complain no one, who makes decisions in F1/FIA, is listening!
Apparently - Massa is a bit of a hypocrite:
"I could not stop the car and I was on the gravel because he pushed me into the gravel. For him yes [the penalty was fair]; for me I am not sure.""
So - everyone needs to stop and genuflect for him when he pulls out of the pits, when he leaves the pit lane, and when he takes out another driver he should not get a penalty?!?!?!? Please - Massa seems to think he is Schumacher and he can drive like him.
Who hit LH & SB? - CHEATA MASSA
Who did LH hit? - NO-ONE
Who owned up to having a racing incident? - Hamilton
Who is whining that his drive through for putting LH of the track was too harsh? - CHEATA MASSA.
Who overtook MW on the hatch lines forcing him to move or have a fatal accident? CHEATA MASSA
CHEATA MASSA is a reckless little sh#t and should be banned.
Next year the regs change on the aero to allow more over overtaking- or is it more penalties?
were you all watching the same race????
Is this racing or what, be careful if you overtake you will get a penalty !!!!
Massa and Hamilton are both whining like ten year olds. They should have more steel and just move on. But they keep on complaining about one thing after the other. Champions do not behave like them on or off track. Kimi has had a bad season but he was robbed of a win in Japan by the McLarens but he isn't blaming them and whining on and on about it
i cant believe Kimi has lied like that. he claims that hamilton hit him in the first corner. i watched the recording again this morning and there was no contact.
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