Massa repeats calls for F1 stewards consistency after Sainz flashpoint

Felipe Massa has lamented what he sees as further inconsistent calls from Formula 1 race stewards after being blocked by Carlos Sainz Jr during his opening lap in Q3 of qualifying for his final home race.

The Williams driver says Sainz admitted deliberately disturbing Massa’s opening qualifying lap in the top ten shootout as a reaction to being blocked during free practice by the Brazilian driver.

An enraged Massa, hoping to see out his final home F1 race on a high, asked the F1 stewards to look into the incident but his call fell on deaf ears meaning the Brazilian will start from ninth place with Sainz keeping ahead in eighth on the grid.

Massa says once the emotions cool it will be another moment of inconsistent decision-making by the stewards after seeing a number of drivers penalised for similar incidents but others escape without a penalty.

“Sainz disturbed me on purpose, he knew I was coming and he did it on purpose which for me is really bad,” Massa explained. “I said, ‘listen, if I disturb someone maybe it is because of an engineer mix-up or you don’t see them coming but when you disturb someone on purpose it is completely different.’

“It is the stewards that need to decide. I was complaining massively but the stewards didn’t do anything so what can I do. They didn’t even put my name or the incident as noted.”

“In two or three of the last qualifying sessions they have penalised drivers but didn’t penalise other drivers that they were supposed to. This is another time of that.

“It is something we’ve complained about for a long time in Formula 1 and it is possible to improve.”

Massa is eager to put the flashpoint out of his mind ahead of his final home F1 race and attack from ninth place with the target of a strong points finish.

“If nothing happens what can I do?” Massa said. “I need to concentrate and think about the race tomorrow as I’m still starting with a good grid position and will fight tomorrow in the race.”