Massa has no idea why he started in wrong Diriyah FE grid position
Felipe Massa has "no idea" why he started in the wrong grid position for the second Formula E race in Diriyah, for which he received a drivethrough penalty
Massa, who had qualified 16th for race two, was elevated a position when reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was shuffled to the back of the grid.
However, the ex-Formula 1 driver assumed 16th on the starting grid regardless, having "always in my mind that I should start on the right".
Massa enjoyed an "amazing" first part of the race, and made his way up to seventh in the early stages before being hit with a penalty for lining up in the wrong position.
He then exceeded the pitlane speed limit while taking his penalty, and had 24 seconds added to his race time - which stymied any chances of collecting points.
"The race was going amazing," Massa told Autosport.
"I managed to overtake many cars - I started 15th, [then] I was seventh with a good pace and managed to overtake the guys at the right time.
"Everything was going in a good line for me, then I had the message that I had the drivethrough for the start.
"I totally understand; I started on the right and I'm supposed to start on the left. I have no idea why I did that.
"To be honest, because I was supposed to be 16th and then they gave again a position and I went to 15th, I had always in my mind that I should start on the right.
"I stopped on my row, nobody was there!"
Massa accepted full responsibility for the penalties, and was frustrated at his inability to make the most of his Venturi-Mercedes package.
He was the only Mercedes-powered driver not to score points in Saudi Arabia, as team-mate Edoardo Mortara made the top 10 in both races.
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Mercedes's Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries also scored points, and Vandoorne left the weekend with a brace of third-place finishes.
"I'm so sorry for what's happened," Massa continued.
"I mean for sure [it's] my fault - it's positive how the race was going, but very frustrating for this and for the amount of points that we lost for the race.
"The pace is there; we managed to be competitive and unfortunately we didn't get what we were supposed to get."
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