Felipe Massa's lap three exit from the German Grand Prix has an officially confirmed cause; he was stuck in fifth gear.
The Brazilian exited the race at turn one after spinning onto the run-off area - he admits through his own error. He was then unable to rejoin the race due to the car being stuck in fifth gear, meaning he could do nothing but hop out and travel back to the paddock.
Massa spoke to reporters after the race and explained that it was driver error that was the reason for his spin: "I braked at the straight and locked the rear wheels, The car went sidewards to the right and then I corrected and it went sideways to the left."
However he was unable to join the race due to being stuck in fifth gear: "I stopped the car and was in fifth gear and tried to go down to first to get out but the gear was not going down. I was stuck in fifth gear. I tried to get out but the engine stopped, went out because it is difficult to leave in fifth gear. It just was not possible."
He also discussed the current running order and what his first impressions are of the updated Pirelli tyres, which he feels have not changed very much: “I see Red Bull were competitive in qualifying and in the race and Lotus was competitive as well, in the race more than in qualifying. Mercedes were very competitive in qualifying, a bit less for the race as when it gets a bit hot they suffer a lot more and use more of the tyres.
"We were more or less there, the car was not so bad on this track so I think maybe the Red Bulls were a bit stronger than us and the Lotus as well. But I don’t think it [the tyres] changed so much, I don’t think it was a big thing."
The 2008 championship runner-up was running in sixth place before the incident after overtaking Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap.
Meanwhile team-mate Fernando Alonso raced strongly to fourth place after starting in eighth. He admitted that the result was the best he could do, saying: "This was pretty much the maximum that we could do. The race was not bad, which is reflected in the fact that we were only a few seconds behind the winner. We had sixty good laps, but it was not enough for the podium."
He finished just a few seconds away from Grosjean's third placed Lotus and admitted that they lost out in the first stint, where the Frenchman made up the most time: "We were actually surprised by how long the Soft tyres lasted at the beginning. We thought the first pit-stops would come on the sixth of seventh lap, but Grosjean didn’t stop until around the 12th [sic. 14th]. We lost out in the first 20 laps, when we should have been faster. The podium might have been possible otherwise."
He currently sits second in the championship, 35 points clear of race winner Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa's result drops him further away from his closest rivals in seventh place. However they maintain third in the constructors despite Lotus making significant inroads.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Massa spoke to reporters after the race and explained that it was driver error that was the reason for his spin: "I braked at the straight and locked the rear wheels, The car went sidewards to the right and then I corrected and it went sideways to the left."
However he was unable to join the race due to being stuck in fifth gear: "I stopped the car and was in fifth gear and tried to go down to first to get out but the gear was not going down. I was stuck in fifth gear. I tried to get out but the engine stopped, went out because it is difficult to leave in fifth gear. It just was not possible."
He also discussed the current running order and what his first impressions are of the updated Pirelli tyres, which he feels have not changed very much: “I see Red Bull were competitive in qualifying and in the race and Lotus was competitive as well, in the race more than in qualifying. Mercedes were very competitive in qualifying, a bit less for the race as when it gets a bit hot they suffer a lot more and use more of the tyres.
"We were more or less there, the car was not so bad on this track so I think maybe the Red Bulls were a bit stronger than us and the Lotus as well. But I don’t think it [the tyres] changed so much, I don’t think it was a big thing."
The 2008 championship runner-up was running in sixth place before the incident after overtaking Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap.
Meanwhile team-mate Fernando Alonso raced strongly to fourth place after starting in eighth. He admitted that the result was the best he could do, saying: "This was pretty much the maximum that we could do. The race was not bad, which is reflected in the fact that we were only a few seconds behind the winner. We had sixty good laps, but it was not enough for the podium."
He finished just a few seconds away from Grosjean's third placed Lotus and admitted that they lost out in the first stint, where the Frenchman made up the most time: "We were actually surprised by how long the Soft tyres lasted at the beginning. We thought the first pit-stops would come on the sixth of seventh lap, but Grosjean didn’t stop until around the 12th [sic. 14th]. We lost out in the first 20 laps, when we should have been faster. The podium might have been possible otherwise."
He currently sits second in the championship, 35 points clear of race winner Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa's result drops him further away from his closest rivals in seventh place. However they maintain third in the constructors despite Lotus making significant inroads.
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