Tyre Problems Cost Massa Dear
The Sauber team blamed their Michelin tyres for the problems that cost Felipe Massa a point-scoring finish at the European Grand Prix
Massa ran strongly in the points for a big part of the race, but began to drop down after making his second pitstop on lap 44 due to his front tyres causing a strong vibration.
The problem first caused him to go off and then his front wing was damaged when a tread from the tyre began to break up. Massa was forced to pit, losing all his chances of a good result.
Teammate Jacques Villeneuve was never in contention and finished in 13th, one place ahead of Massa.
"We had a disappointing ending to what had been a great race for us," said technical director Willy Rampf. "Felipe was able to steer clear of the first-corner incident and drove with strong pace and the chance to score points for sixth place until he encountered a problem.
"We have yet to examine the tyres, and while we await a report from Michelin we will also carry out our own analysis of all our car data from the race.
"As for Jacques, his strategy was compromised by the first-corner collisions and he was never in a position thereafter to be able to recover the lost ground."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments