Senna and Massa involved in a “racing incident”
In the battle for 13th place in the race, it was at the third turn of the 47th lap at Albert Park that Bruno Senna and his Williams collided with Felipe Massa's Ferrari. Neither driver wants to blame the other for what they both consider a racing incident.
Already accustomed to brushes with Lewis Hamilton last season, Felipe Massa this time fell victim to a collision with the Williams of his compatriot, Bruno Senna. Following this crash, which caused the retirement of both cars (broken suspension for Ferrari, puncture for Williams), each of the two drivers expressed their views on what they consider a simple racing incident.
« Ricciardo was unlucky just as I had been earlier when I tried to overtake Felipe at the exit of turn 13, he pushed me wide and Danny [Ricciardo] passed me, » explains Senna. « Then Danny tried to do the same to Felipe [Massa] at turn 3 and both went wide, so I had a good chance to get past them. I tried to overtake Felipe at turn 4. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but it was a racing incident. »
You fight for every millimeter on the track and if I had been slower on the outside, we probably would have just touched wheels and everything would have been fine, but I went a bit faster and his front wing touched my front tire and it was over.
An opinion shared by the Ferrari driver who provides a version of events quite similar to Ayrton’s nephew:
“I was ahead at the turn, but Bruno [Senna] was able to negotiate it well because I was fighting with the other car. He was then able to take the trajectory because there was a single-seater on my side,” he stated. “Then we both turned left, he was on the outside and I was quite on the inside. I steered, a little bit early because I didn’t know if he was trying to overtake me on the outside, then he turned a little too much and we touched. For me, it’s something that can happen in racing. I think I didn’t do anything wrong because I was on the inside, and from his point of view, it was the end of the race; he was fighting for his position so we can’t say he did anything really wrong.”
Massa was also struggling with grip issues, which did not help him defend his position optimally.
“I was very positive for the race, but after five laps, the rear tires were dead. I was sliding in every corner and this didn’t happen to any other car, just me. I couldn’t find the balance of the car at all, not only during the race but the whole weekend, we need to understand why.” explained the Ferrari driver.
