De la Rosa Slams Massa over Accident

Jaguar Racing driver Pedro de la Rosa launched an attack on Felipe Massa after they crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix - and branded him "the worst guy you can meet".

De la Rosa was forced to retire from the Monza race after colliding with Massa, damaging his front suspension in an incident midway through the race, when he moved across to let the Sauber driver past.

Spaniard de la Rosa had overtaken Massa after cutting the chicane and handed back the position, only for the young Brazilian to move back in too soon and collide with the Jaguar. And De la Rosa fumed: "He is the worst guy you can meet. I missed the chicane and I let him by again and he drove across my front suspension at full speed which is unbelievable."

Massa had earlier told F1 Digital+ that he had not seen that de la Rosa was so close to him, despite the fact the Jaguar driver was allowing him to regain his position.

"I didn't want to do it," said Massa. "To be honest I didn't see him and I didn't want to do what happened. I just felt a touch."

De la Rosa claimed he could have brought his Jaguar home in the points along with teammate Eddie Irvine, who scored a podium finish in third, had it not been for the incident. But despite his personal disappointment, the Spaniard expressed his delight for the Milton Keynes-based team who have had another tough year in 2002.

"I'm happy for the team, for Eddie, for Cosworth - it was a good weekend," he added. "I'm just disappointed we couldn't have got more points which I think was possible."