Massa Blames Dirty Track for Practice Crash

Brazilian Felipe Massa blamed a very dirty Hungaroring circuit for a costly mistake that saw him causing a lot of damage to his Sauber in Friday's practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The rookie driver, who was impressive during the morning session when he set the third quickest time, lost control of his Petronas-powered C21 during the closing minutes of the afternoon session, spinning and crashing heavily into the barriers.

Massa walked away uninjured, but his car was heavily damaged and his mechanics will be forced to work hard to fix both his and his teammate Nick Heidfeld's car.

"I like this track, but today it was very dirty," said Massa, who was eighth fastest on Friday, when most of the drivers went off the track or spun. "A lot of people went off, and I was one of them. I made a small mistake, but it was a big penalty.

"I improved my times all day, and after a spell running in traffic I got a clear lap again so I was pushing hard. Then, like Nick, I slid on to the dirty part of the track and lost control of the car."

Heidfeld also crashed into the barriers in the second session, completing a troubled day for the Swiss squad. The German wound up 17th quickest.

"All through the morning session I was struggling to get the car balance, and new tyres tended to make it understeer more," he said. "On the lap that I crashed this afternoon I was pushing harder and the car felt a little bit better, but I ran wide on to the kerb up at the chicane after I went into the corner a little bit too quick, and as soon as you get on the dirt here you are in trouble. I spun and hit the wall, and that was end of my session."