Smedley told Massa to ‘destroy Hamilton’s race’

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In the round-up: Felipe Massa was told to “destroy” Lewis Hamilton’s race before they collided.

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Singapore Grand Prix race edit

The Singapore Grand Prix race edit video from FOM reveals some interesting comments at Ferrari.

It appears that before the collision between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, Rob Smedley was goading his driver to “hold Hamilton as much as we can. Destroy his race as much as we can.”

After the contact Hamilton lamented to his team “of course I have a drive-through”. Watch the video via the link above. What a shame none of this was broadcast during the race.

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Fer no.65 on Carlos Reutemann after F1:

Carlos Reutemann is still enigmatic. After F1, he was elected governor of Santa F1 and did quite well. He was tipped as candidate for the 1999 presidential elections but he kept saying nothing about it and never postulated himself. Then again in 2003, 2009 and 2011.

Every journalist went to him asking: “what are you going to do for the elections?” And he always found ways to avoid the question and be anything but clear about it.

People here don’t consider him that good in F1, sadly. He’s always tipped as “an eternal second”. Odd considering he won 13 races, and was at the top of his game against such a strong opposition. He’s always maintained in some way Williams prevented him to take the title, but to be honest, from what I read and listen, he just imploded mentally.
Fer no. 65

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On this day in F1

Jim Clark won the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen 45 years ago today.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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205 comments on “Smedley told Massa to ‘destroy Hamilton’s race’”

  1. Interesting read about Massa.
    I read on twitter (i believe Byron Young @byronf1) said he tought Massa
    was slow on acceleration when the collision happened..
    Don’t want to erase Hamilton’s error, but could be an extra reason the touch happened!

    1. byronf1 Byron Young
      Engine sounded to me like Massa didn’t get on the power quick enough out of the corner and that caused the accident with Hamilton.

      1. massa was on prime tyres on the extreme inside of a tightish corner. I believe Hamilton should’ve expected Massa to be slow on exit.

        1. Just like Schumacher judged other’s braking points so well? ;)

          1. I guess the word “Destroy’ here was meant to hole Hamilton not let him pass Massa so that his race is ruin,I don’t think Rob Smedley is a stupid enough guy to tell Massa to have a intentional crash.

          2. Yes Wasif, it makes sense for Ferrari to want Massa to keep Hamilton behind as best as he can to give Alonso a good shot at finishing ahead of him later in the day.

    2. I did think he was a little slow, but I couldn’t be bothered to excuse Hamilton or argue it before. I have a lot less sympathy for Massa’s puncture now that he was told to hold him up! Backfired somewhat…

    3. Don’t want to erase Hamilton’s error, but could be an extra reason the touch happened!

      I don’t think Massa deliberately caused the accident to ruin Hamilton. He’s not that stupid.

      1. Not very often I agree with you.

      2. It ruined his race more than Hamilton’s. Obviousy the “destroy his race” thing was a coincidence, Felipe didn’t really want to crash with Lewis and Lewis probably didn’t know about that communication and just tried to pass him.
        After all, Massa’s races often are “destoryed” by bein stuck up behind some other drivers, so Smedley’s remark was not to be intended literally.

        1. But it got Alonso another place…

          1. And we know he’s not worried about what his teammates have to go through for his benefit!! Seriously though, this is just unfortunate phrasing from Rob, i’m sure they could come up with something more imagainative if there was anything sinister to this. However it does demonstrate the feeling in Massa’s side of the garage to Hamilton. The WDC maybe over but maybe a good fued will give us more interest in the last few races!!!

        2. The really worrying thing for Massa, is the fact he has not only been asked to give up a win for Alonso, but we now have proof, the is very much being put in a position to really be Fernando’s rear guard.

          Its something we discussed often here, how often stopping him after Alonso hurt his race strategy. Now we see just how far Ferrari are taking this.
          I think we should really take this in account when talking about how well Massa is driving. A sad turn in his career really.

      3. yes he is and he has done that to hamilton so many times.

        1. No he isn’t, and the contact last Sunday was at least partially Hamilton’s fault, like what we’ve seen so many times this year from Lew.

      4. For sure the desire to disrupt someone else’s race is normal. However, if done by driving deliberately slightly slower than normal or taking a different line through a corner, a driver can’t be too surprised if he outwits the other driver into making a small mistake. And it certainly shows that Massa’s petulant outburst was cynical to say the least.

    4. Why would Felipe be accelerating at this point? Exactly. He wouldn’t be. It was a ridiculous error by Lewis and Felipe cannot be blamed out of anything other than pure spite.

      I loved how Rob Smedley had basically the same reaction to the incident as myself though; a simple shake of the head in disbelief. And Lewis’ classic niggle at the stewards as he’s serving his drive through is getting a bit tired. Of course you have a drive through Lewis. You caused a completely avoidable accident.

    5. Nahhhh I think the incident was still down to a mistake from Hamilton.

    6. That is ByronF1 though. Well known for bashing any driver who isn’t British.

      1. Wouldn’t pay much attention to Bryon Young. He would write anything for a story whether it was true or not.

        Stopped reading anything from him 6 months ago when seen this clearly happen.

        1. It would be interesting to see his ‘unfollow’ stats on twitter

      2. Too right Tommy. I had a look at his tweets the other day and I can promise you I won’t be going back for more!

        1. It’s Hamilton’s error anyway even if Felipe put down the accelerator late.. wich would explain why he isn’t as fast as others :)

          That it ruined his race more then Hamilton’s is because Lewis was so much faster :)

    7. Knowing what he was doing during the race, there was no need for Massa to go after Hamilton the way he did after the race, and making the whole thing personal. He was defending his position and “Holding Hamilton back” as instructed i.e. taking the racing line, braking early, and slowing down in the corners…. Hamilton misjudged Massa’s speed hence the collision – a racing incident, nothing more.
      It was a risky move by Smedley and Massa, and unfortunately for them they ended up in a collision. They should have been more realistic, they were not racing Hamilton for position…. they had no chance.

  2. Woah, COTD! :P.

    I saw the “harmful code” in my dad’s PC and though: “gosh this is weird, what’s this computer doing differently than mine? I enter everyday and nothing appears in there” then when I got home and saw the FB updates, realized it wasn’t my dad’s PC problem. Heh…

    1. Lol, I wrote “Santa F1” instead of “Santa Fe”… wish there was a Santa F1 with F1 gifts every single 25th Decembter tho!

  3. If Massa was told to hold up Lewis, and he was cautious at the turn for that reason, it’s no wonder Lewis hit him.

    I’m frankly amazed that plotting to destroy another drivers race isn’t illegal, but it has ensured I have ZERO respect any more for Smedley or Massa/

    1. Why would telling someone to destroy another’s race be illegal?
      It is racing, of course that stuff goes on, it’s just part of the game.

      1. Watching that incident again, Hamilton was definitly in the wrong, no doubt about that.

      2. relax …it was Felipe’s race destroyed caused by the legal instruction

        1. It’s not illegal. It’s not even morally wrong.

          Do you really expect Ferrari to tell Massa to let Hamilton past as quick as possible?

          1. No but it’s off. The usual terminology is something far more benign like “you’re racing for position.”

          2. enka said legal not illegal.

      3. There is sporting code as well! McLaren had to pay huge amount of money just for breaking that code. It’s ok to compete with someone but to destroy his race is malicious and completely out of place…

        1. Calm down, how many times someones race was “destroyed” to our viewing pleasure? Look at Petrovs defensive driving in Abu Dhabi last year – result? Alonsos race (and championship hopes) destroyed, how many times Kubica held far superior cars of Raikkonen or Hamilton – their races were somewhat destroyed too, but watching those guys “destoying” each others races was (and will be) a pleasure.
          This Massa “controversy” (some wants it to be controversy:\ ) is nothing even close to Piquet-gate.
          Just focus on next race, people (Suzuka, a place where championship could be decided, although not in such exciting circumstances as in the past…)

          1. Lewis didn’t want to hit slow motion Massa. It was a misjudgement by Lewis. End of story.

            Massa did nothing illegal on the race track. Michael Schumacher did destroy Lewis race illegally in Monza, Massa didn’t but he was tempted to, maybe the hit stopped him from materializing his engineer’s clue, but we will never know…

      4. Massa should be banned from F1, Smedley should be kept out of F1 for five years and Massa should start racing trucks in America like that other Brazilian kid. This the only option for cheaters in Grand Prix…

    2. They were rivals racing for position, while on different strategies, imho “destroy his race” is exactly what Massa should have been doing.

      If Massa was on prime tyres as stated above, and he was able to keep Hamilton behind for a few laps, that would play into his hands later in the race.

      It might of worked had Hamilton not impersonated my mother and forgot where the front of his car ends.

      1. I think di Resta’s handled this better. Kept them behind for as long as possible, but don’t sacrifice your own lap-time in doing so!

        Shame Massa didn’t do a better job later in the race when Hamilton did get past rather easily!

        1. That’s because di Resta was racing for himself while Massa was for Alonso who got better result than possible.

    3. So: “OK, Felipe, Hamilton is faster than you, can you understand this message” would’ve worked better, wouldn’t it?

      Just because he said “destroy” doesn’t mean “try to cause an accident”.

      The fact Hamilton hit him in the end, proves that Ferrari’s strategy (despite backfiring a bit), worked. How many times have we seen a driver holding up another deliberately, so his team mate can catch (or get away from) the pair.

    4. If Massa was told to hold up Lewis, and he was cautious at the turn for that reason, it’s no wonder Lewis hit him.
      I’m frankly amazed that plotting to destroy another drivers race isn’t illegal, but it has ensured I have ZERO respect any more for Smedley or Massa/

      I think you’re reading way too much into this. Watch the video again and you’ll see that Hamilton hit Massa well before Felipe would have been even thinking about accelerating. Here’s the initial contact. Massa was forced to take the defensive line, so he was always going to be slow through the apex. Hamilton was unfortunately a bit thick on this occasion and he can only blame himself. As far as I see it, he completely deserved his drive through.

      As for Smedley’s comments, that’s just how he fires his “boy” up. By telling him to “destroy his race” it would have reminded Felipe of what Lewis did to him in Monaco. To say the accident was anything to do with Smedley’s comment is plain silly. It was a stupid error by Lewis and 0% Massa’s fault.

      1. You’re not related to Rob are you? ;)

        You’ve got to admit though that his terminology is suspect. Compare “destroy his race” with what other drivers get such as “you’re racing for position” and “you can get him”. It’s just more “off” than anything really concrete.

        Sadly not enough to draw any conclusions from other than Rob needs to ditch the smoggy accent :p (I speak as a true geordie :p)

        1. It’s clearly just Smedley trying to gee his driver up, he knows how to make Massa tick. Any thought that he was telling Massa to deliberately crash into Hamilton is ludicrous.

        2. You’re not related to Rob are you?

          I really need to look into it and find out! It would be so cool if I was. Smedley isn’t exactly a common name, even if Rob and I are half a world away from each other.

        3. there’s nothing suspect to it. It clearly wasn’t meant as “Make sure he gets a penalty” or “Put him off the road”, something like that would clearly have been a coded message ;)

          i think there was a race a few years ago where Rubens Barrichello was told by his engineer to “kill” the guy in front of him – meaning to overtake him. I think this is something similar

          1. What if Barrichello ended up crashing into the guy, how was that message going to interpretted? If Hamilton and Massa accident didn’t happen, no-one would have made a follow up on what Smedley said.

    5. Massa was one of the few that resisted to a DRS attack and did so superbly with his KERS and late braking on the inside. He was for once doing a corageous manoeuvre which kept him ahead of a rival, and he should be encouraged for this rather than bashed.

  4. Nice to hear an interesting audio snippet, reaffirms my wish that they would let us hear more.

  5. Interesting comments from Smedley there… Kind of expected from Lewis though…

    Nothing compared to when Barrichello was told to ‘kill’ someone back in ’06 ;)

  6. As well…,I wondered why google issued such a stern condemnation. I really only ever access this site on my android mobile, so I wasnt so worried. All my production machines (render farm, sound design, image editing, etc) never ever see cyberspace. Ever.

    1. Your phone can get hacked so u know, especialy if it’s an Iphone.

      1. and I don’t just mean so that the news of the world can find out who your girlfriend is or on what night you shave your legs. notw hackers are nothing but kids playing with toys compared to the real deal.

  7. UKfanatic (@)
    2nd October 2011, 1:17

    I noticed the spam, no worry from me I assumed it wasnt on purpose, anyway I dont hear anything wron on Smedleys radio message in the end Hamilton finished better than Massa he was less harmed than Massa but he was way quicker anyway.

    1. UKfanatic (@)
      2nd October 2011, 1:20

      after saturday and before it doenst impresses me what stunned me was to listen Hamilton admit that he deserved it

  8. I must be missing something since I dont understand all the hate against Smedley and Massa. How is that any worse than having Schumacher defending fiercely against Hamilton? Sure, Smedley told him to “ruin his race” but that’s no different than telling him to defend as best he could, and from my understanding that is racing. I hope people weren’t expecting Massa to just let Hamilton by.

    1. It’s because they are ruining Massa’s race. This guy nearly won the world championship, now he’s just alonso’s servant… Hence the anger on here.

  9. I think the article meant to say Whitmarsh told hammy to destroy massa’s race”
    hammy asked how? easy hit his rear tyre

  10. That race at the Glen was the first GP I attended, I was 17 at the time and had been following F1 for about 5 years. In those days you followed F1 in the US by waiting 2 months for Road & Track’s detailed race reports by the legendary Henry N Manney III and watching Monaco on ABC Wide World of Sports delayed several weeks, a far cry from today’s live broadcasts of even the practice sessions and live timing.
    We had arrived at the track at midnight after a 2 1/2 hour drive and pitched our tents in the dark in the infield next to a very flimsy wire fence. I was awakened in the morning (more than a little hung over) by an incredible cacaphony and poked my head out of the tent opening to see and hear the F1 cars, no more than 15 feet away, screaming at top speed down the back straight and then decelerating popping and banging to take the entry to Fast Bend, the sound was absolutely amazing. Besides the H-16 there were 4 different V-12s, several V-8s and even inline 4s out practicing for the GP. In the race the next day, Clark gave the H-16 it’s only win after both Bandini and Brabham blew their engines while leading. About 20 laps in Surtees in a Cooper-Maserati had tangled with Arundell’s Lotus-Climax, which he was trying to lap, sending both of them on a trip through the grass. He then followed him into the Lotus pit and got out of the car to “have a word” with him but was held back by the Lotus mechanics. Surtees rejoined the race 3 laps down and then proceeded to produce an absolutely storming drive through the field, setting FL after FL and unlapping himself twice to wind up 3rd. After watching this race an F1 Fanatic was born that day on a hilltop in Upstate NY!

    1. Oh, what a great story! :-D

      Also:

      In those days you followed F1 in the US by waiting 2 months for Road & Track’s detailed race reports by the legendary Henry N Manney III and watching Monaco on ABC Wide World of Sports delayed several weeks

      I’ll never complain about SpeedTV coverage again. (Okay, I probably will.) But seriously: it makes me wonder how there were any F1 fans here in the US back then who hadn’t actually been to a race!

    2. (sorry if this is reposting… doesn’t seem to be working right)

      Cheers DMW. I too was there that day! The night before my brother and I slept… if you can call it that… in various places in my Bugeye Sprite on the outside of “the 90”. Reminds me – the (traditional) first weekend of October appraches.

      You are so right. As many contemplate a return to the USA (Austin) they have no idea of (1) the great scene there was 60’s to 70’s and (2) how hard they have to work to regain what we had then (before Bernie threw it away).

      1. correction – we are in the first weekend of October, the traditional date for the USGP.

  11. was FOM trying save the juicy race highlights for the Highlights DVD at end of season?

  12. I’m seeing a lot of people pouncing on Smedley’s comments, as if they’re proof positive that Massa caused the accident with Hamilton, not the other way around.

    1. Couldn’t agree more. I’m actually a little annoyed by some people over this whole incident. Massa did nothing wrong, yet seems to be getting more flak than the man that carelessly drove into his rival.

      1. If Hamilton wasn’t having a rough season, then wouldn’t be an issue. In fact, the whole “destroy his race” comment would have passed under the radar. People are just trying to shift blame away from Hamilton to justify the Hamilton-isn’t-struggling argument.

        1. Trenthamfolk (@)
          2nd October 2011, 8:22

          Don’t be ridiculous… No-ones trying to shift blame here. This is all about Ferrari and their doormat, Massa. Massa clearly wasn’t there to race (a point I have maintained from the beginning) but simply to get in the way. He has no desire to score points, he is not aiming for a podium, or to overtake anyone, but to do whatever his overloads tell him. Most pointedly, he is not there to race!

          Frankly, Ferrari display the very worst type of sportsmanship, and aside from being blatant cheats, are content to be derided the pathetic, outclassed and anti-sporting outfit they have now become.

          It’s very sad for Massa. Ferrari nursed him back into the cockpit after his accident knowing they now had a virtual slave who owes them big. As for his attitude after the race, it was clearly another attempt to wind Hamilton up and distract him. Pathetic, childish and very, very Ferrari. The prancing ponies are a joke. In my opinion!

          1. that’s ok, get it all out. show me on the doll where enzo touched you. then, wake up and realize pro sports isn’t the ideal world you imagine.

          2. You guys are ridiculous.

            Hamilton made a mistake. Next race.

            I’m sure Massa is there to win races and I’m sure Ferrari has taken your opinion on board.

          3. Trenthamfolk (@)
            2nd October 2011, 12:55

            @F1yankee You resort to insult when faced with facts you don’t like to acknowledge. How very grown up of you!

          4. Agree Alonso and Ferrari deserve each other, the cheats they are.

          5. I believe a well thoughtful opinion on your part, and reinforced by Smedley’s comments…….listen!!

            http://www.formula1.com/video/race_edits/

        2. That’s not what it’s about at all. Massa’s attitude all weekend was that everything was Lewis’s fault, that he was an unsafe and irresponsible driver, that he needed to change his attitude. The accident was avoidable and Lewis should have been more careful.

          Having said that, this is proof that massa does deliberately dawdle, that he does deliberately get in the way, that he was attempting to frustrate and annoy Hamilton. Which makes his childish attacks on Lewis after the race even worse. If you have behind you a driver who you know is impatient, who will climb all over you to get past, who has caused avoidable accidents all year, then deliberately attempting to frustrate him, is only going to end in an accident. In the circumstances, I’m not going to absolve lewis of the blame, but I’m going to say that Massa deserved what he got.

          And it’s further proof that ferrari only have one driver. They don’t want their drivers to finish 1-2, and beat other teams. They want one driver to win, and the other to ruin someone else’s race, they don’t care how he does it or where he finishes. There is no culture of sportsmanship in the team. No wonder Massa’s frustrated, but he only has himself to blame. A man with more guts would have refused the order in germany and he wouldn’t be in this position.

          1. Couldn’t have put it better myself.

          2. You think he “deliberately dawdled”? Felipe was on primes; Lewis was on options. “Hold him up” doesn’t mean go slower. It was a simple instruction to keep him behind and defend his position. There’s no way in the world that Felipe would have slowed down and ruined his own race just to “frustrate” Lewis.

          3. Why can’t Ferrari use Massa to assist Alonso’s race?

            I was one of the most vocal people in Hockenheim against what Ferrari did. But this is different. This wasn’t swapping their drivers or stopping their men from racing. This was using one car to help the teams chances.

            Do you expect Ferrari to tell Massa not to hold one of their main competitors up?

            I’m sorry, but Massa has every right to dawdle and frustrate Hamilton as much as he wants. Lewis stuffed up. Big deal, move on. But to suggest that either Ferrari or Massa have done anything even morally wrong is ridiculous.

            Yes, Hockenheim, evil evil. But that was a long time ago, and even I have moved on.

          4. When you are a boxer and you hit your opponent so he is feeling bad you’ll go after it with everything you have because its the best chance for a knock out. If you know Messi doesn’t play well when you always step on his feet and bully him around on the pitch, then you’ll make sure to do that on every occasion you can. When you know Hamilton comes up you try to annoy him because that makes him prone to mistakes. Know your opponents weaknesses and exploit them. Get over it.

          5. Actually Damon, it can mean exactly that. Senna famously kept Mansell behind him at Monaco in ’92 on far older tyres by going slightly slower into the corners, forcing Nige to brake more and slowing him down. That’s just racecraft.

          6. I’m not suggesting at all that Massa or Ferrari aren’t entitled to hold up or block one of their competitors where possible, what I’ve said is that is Massa’s only purpose in races. He’s not there to score points or podiums, or do well on his own account. He’s there to be a roadblock for alonso, and therefore when Lewis complained about massa holding him up on qualifying laps, he had a point. Massa’s own driving has contributed to the accidents he’s been in, and he only has himself to blame for the frustration her feels at being used by ferrari like this. So yes, damon it us quite clear that massa will ruin his own race on team orders, I don’t know how you can doubt it.

            As to the Messi comparison, I would say that if you can’t beat him without standing on his feet, then you haven’t beaten him at all, you’ve just shown poor sportsmanship and a lack of class.

          7. Trenthamfolk (@)
            2nd October 2011, 12:58

            @Mike, Ferrari clearly haven’t…

          8. @Franton – But that was for the win in the dying laps of the race. Felipe was just on a different strategy, and for it to work, he had to make sure he stayed in front of Hamilton who was on quicker tyres.

            @Hairs – Smedley gave the order, and Smedley is not as evil as everyone makes out Ferrari personnel to be. He is working for Ferrari, but over the years I’ve got the feeling he’s not fond of making his driver do the dirty work for Fernando. Watch the Spa race edit and you’ll see how pleased he was when Fernando passed him. I’m sorry, but in my opinion, Massa wasn’t holding Lewis up for Fernando on this occasion. He was actually trying to beat him.

          9. @ Damon Smedley

            There’s no way in the world that Felipe would have slowed down and ruined his own race just to “frustrate” Lewis.

            Except that he was told to ‘hold’ Hamilton by his race engineer and ‘destroy’ his race. Which implies slowing him down so Alonso could get away. The only explanation. Which also implies Massa wasn’t supposed to think about his own race and to concentrate on ‘holding’ Hamilton.

            So he braked heavily into a corner while defending as best he could, caused Hamilton to lock up and – in my view – was jointly responsible for the collision. Racing incident.

            Kind of sad that Massa, and Ferrari’s second driver, is only useful as a mobile bollard to block Hamilton from being a threat to Alonso, but there you have it.

          10. Hamilton didn’t lock up. He had the racing line and he had braked earlier. Massa was defending on the inside and whilst braking, was run into. How you can see it as Massa’s fault in any way is beyond me.

  13. That is a great story…, Watkins glenn is legendary. So is ABC’s wide world of sports…. Nice!

  14. I think Rob should be a little more subtle with his wording or he could invoke the wrath of the powers that be. Not condoning the action but try to be a little less obvious.
    Ron’s words in Spa 98 were “he’s right behind you.

  15. I think Rob should be a little more subtle with his wording or he could invoke the wrath of the powers that be. Not condoning the action but try to be a little less obvious.
    Ron’s words in Spa 98 were “he’s right behind you”.

  16. This is an embarrassing mistake on our part which never should have happened in the first place. Before the advertising code is restored it will be re-checked, as will the measures in place to guard against harmful code will be reviewed, to ensure this does not happen again.

    Please accept my sincere apologies to anyone affected by this error.

    Don’t be too hard on yourself, Keith – malware is easily slipped into advertising coding, and it can be very difficult to detect immediately.

    1. Agree as it seems it is 100% the ad network’s fault.

      But I suppose there is at least one f1fanatic user somewhere that demands an apology!

    2. Agree that it hardly seems like your fault Keith, and seeing as how I get literally hours of entertainment every week from this site for free, a minor inconvenience once in a while isn’t going to stop me coming!

    3. Seems something similar happened to several dutch newspapers and other media

  17. I like Rob Smedley. I like Felipe Massa. I do not like what I hear here.

    1. It’s not the first time that Smedley has given Massa aggressive encouragement like this. But people are simply taking things out of context because Massa was involved in an accident with the person Smedley told him to go after.

      1. I don’t think its out of context considering the fact that Massa made it appear as if it was all hamilton’s fault. Maybe he deliberately braked late thinking that will force hamilton to run wide but turn on him instead and got his tire slashed. Worse of it all, Massa rant of TV as if Hamilton is the most dangerous driver to grace F1 tracks is quite funny

  18. there’s a different between Destroy Hamilton’s race and Destroy Hamilton’s Car

    :D

    Nothing is wrong with smedleys’s radio transmission there

    1. Well said silencer…

      1. Couldn’t agree more

    2. I think something is wrong, not because I had even a single thought that Massa tried to damage Hamilton’s car, but for the consequences of having to actually race like that.
      I can understand it when in a tight battle for the championship a team ask one driver to help his team mate get the result needed (I am not happy about it, but I do understand why they do it), but to do it when its really only about an outside chance of getting on the podium not to officcially drop out of a done battle for the championship?

      1. I agree with you on that BasCB. I hope it was just Smedley attempting to fire up Massa to race hard, but in context, I can’t really escape the feeling that it was indeed a (legal) move to make sure Hamilton couldn’t threaten Alonso, who’s gladdness to have got near the podium doesn’t erase that at all.

        And it also helps explain Massa’s frustration – sure HAM still made the mistake, but Massa knows, or should know, that he was taking risks, and slowing them both, helping to get rid of a good race so that his teammate to get good points. And it backfired on him.

        No wonder then that Massa was frustrated with Hamilton, a lot easier than to lash out at the team you know you have a weak position in, at the moment other than as a back bumper for your dominant team mate.

        Sad, and makes me wish Massa had someone to calm and sooth him after the race.

        Just to be clear: I don’t think this means Massa is to blame for the accident, HAM locked his breaks and went into Massa. And, after all, we have to assume the stewards had access to this radio transmission when they investigated and took it into consideration.

  19. I think Rob means “let’s keep him behind us” as to give themselves and Fernando a chance of finishing ahead in the race. Having said that; slowing on the apex or exit of a corner is a standard racing technique.

  20. As long as “destroy his race” does not mean “ram into him like there was no tomorrow” it’s perfectly ok. Slowing down opponents is part of racing.

    What wonders me is whether such “order” was given deliberately just to be forwarded to Hamilton and provoke him. We all know that Hamilton’s greatest enemy is his own head, so messing with it could have been very useful.

  21. i’d sack him if he didn’t try to destroy his opponents’ race, especially 1 of the faster car/driver combos.

  22. Glad to see some new light being shed on the Hamilton/Massa collision. In the article ‘McLaren: Another collision, another penalty for Hamilton’ I made a request for data on entry/exit speeds for the corner where Hamilton and Massa collided. I did not (and still do not) make a direct claim that Massa intentionally caused the collision or intended to cause a collision, but it clear now that he’s not totally exempt on his part for causing the collision. Basically it boils down to one party driving as a racer and taking the corner as it was meant to be taken, and the other party concentrating – and being instructed to do so – to “Destroy” another racer, and race in a manner not befitting of a racing driver on a racing track. How can anyone who calls themselves “Racing fans” stand up an argue for the other party. SHAME ON YOU!

    1. I wonder if you realize that not immediately accelerating at an apex, or the exit, of a corner, is actually a textbook defensive move. everyone does it; to stop the other guy carrying a speed advantage at the corner exit and getting them at the next corner.

      If you’re driving on the road and going 40kph through a corner; and the person behind you tries to take it at 70; and subsequently hits the back of your car, that’s not exactly your fault either now is it?

      1. I’d just like to clarify that what I mean by this is “not going fast since the start” i.e. delaying going on the throttle. As opposed to a brake-test; which is accelerating; then braking.

        I’m talking of just parking on the apex/exit.

        1. Fisrlty, we should not accept racing drivers to drive as if they’re on pedestrian roads, and secondly, the tactic you speak of lends itself to slow hard braking corners, not short flowing ones where higher speeds are being carried though. Remember, both parties approached the corner at the same speed, both committed to the corner as intended; so why should the trailing driver not expect a similar commitment from the leading driver in exiting the corner – and vice versa? Indeed it’s not a break test as you so rightly say, but its effect can be the produce of a collision.

          1. Isn’t that slightly ignoring the fact that that was the hardest braking zone of the whole circuit?

          2. No its not, that is the driver in front using the fact he is in front to make the other have to take more precautions and make it harder for them to overtake.

        2. The “slow on the exit” technique is widely used, yes. But have a look at the video and you’ll see that Hamilton actually hit Massa just as they were turning in, so actually, Massa would have been still braking. He was not slow on the apex and it’s further proof that Hamilton’s move was utterly ridiculous.

      2. Exactly raymond. Vettel did the exact same ‘slow at the apex’ technique whilst defending from Hamilton towards the end of the race.

        1. Not quite the instance I was talking of, but yes. Vettel did it in China to Hamilton, Vettel again did it in monaco to Button, then Alonso; Hamilton did it to Vettel in Silverstone

    2. To be honest I think Keith has opened an unnecessary ‘can of worms’ here.

      Hamilton messed up, got a penalty. Done deal.

      Massa may have been deliberately awkward on track but only as a normal method of legally obstructing an opponent (defensive driving). There may be bad blood between them but this one was 100% Hamilton’s cock-up.

      No need for further debate.

      1. Well, I think those that do the race edits opened this can of worms, rather. And I do believe it is part of their job description to stir up noise about races, to keep a flow of F1 related articles going.

        I think it is mainly interesting in relation to Massa’s frustration after the race. We have to conclude that it should have been partly directed at his team for giving him instructions that seemingly meant he would not be racing for himself, and that’s certainly what happened.

        Still, like many others: why wasn’t this shown in the live broadcast (even before the collision, this was interesting info, wasn’t it?).

  23. Hardest breaking zone on the track does not mean its a tough, tight turn does it?

    1. It was a slow corner, for one thing. And there is no rule to say that you have to go fast enough for the car behind not to crash into you. Lewis did it to Seb on the exit of Woodcote this year; and this corner is certainly much slower than that

  24. I think Smedley’s comments are deplorable. They reek of “let’s get this ******* for what he did to us in qualifying”. What exactly was Smedley instructing anyway, was he suggesting that Massa should slow down in sections where no overtaking is possible anyway?

    Also, even without the ‘destruction’ instruction, what was the point of holding Hamilton up? Alonso was well up the road in a fight for third, in a race that was irrelevant for the championship.

    In my opinion, Smedley’s comments were spiteful, unsportsmanlike, and unprofessional.

    1. I think you’re reading too much into Smedley’s comments. The FIA would have the telemetry of all drivers, they would be able to see any attempts to brake test or lifting off in front of the other driver etc.

    2. Re: What was the point
      Perhaps it is not about this season but the next one. The real difference between the top tier and “almost-there”‘s is in the head, in every top level sport. Hamilton’s skills make him a prime threat for Ferrari and his mental balance seems suspect already this season, making his races unpleasant can only make it worse. Ferrari are already focusing on their 2012 car, perhaps they are also prepping Hamilton for the next season :-).

      Re: Unsportsmanlike
      Mind games were a regular part of F1 as far as I can remember (80’s), some WCD winners were known for this (especially towards their team-mates).
      And in pretty much every sport people tend to use strong language to get emotions rolling. Given Massa’s perceived lukewarm performances, of all the drivers he may be most in need of some good needling. Having been involved in some tight games I do not find those battle cries unusual. The important thing is not getting carried away
      and taking them seriously.

    3. I’d have to agree with Smedley’s comments being deplorable I think.

      Yes, the contact was Hamilton’s fault, he misjudged his front end and the rest is history…

      But I read “destroy” as “**** him up”, which just isn’t on. He could have said, “try and keep Hamilton behind” or whatever, but he didn’t. What he did say was bitter, uncalled for and smacked of sour grapes and revenge.

      Before everyone jumps on me, saying I’m taking Smedley’s comment out of context or reading too much into it, I’m only making an assumption in exactly the same way you are. You don’t think there was anything in it, I do. Simple.

      Almost every forum post is conjecture, personal opinion, and everyone is entitled to it. Frankly, a lot of you talk like you KNOW what happened, when in fact you don’t.

      Apologies for the language in my post, I’m just always amazed by the number of people that post on this site, that must have been sat next to Smedley at the time to be in a position to so categorically state the ‘facts’.

      Yes, holding up an opponent on the track has always been an integral part of racing, but not in this vein.

      For arguments sake, let’s say Singapore never happened… At Suzuka, Hamilton is in front of Massa, but clearly struggling with tyres/grip or whatever and Hamilton’s engineer came over the radio to say “destroy Hamilton’s race”, everyone on here would be calling for Hamilton to be banned.

      Massive, massive double standards IMHO.

      1. doh… of course I meant “destroy Massa’s race” in my last paragraph.

        1. Trenthamfolk (@)
          2nd October 2011, 12:47

          Good post, an lot of well made points. You are correct, an opinion can;t be wrong, it’s just an opinion!

    4. Couldn’t agree with you more AdrianMorse

  25. at the end of the day lewis should have been better than he was and only has himself to blame…

    however massa is rapidley becoming an embarressment to F1, he’s got the 3rd best car out there but never manages to even get on the podium let alone look like a race winning contender – you seriously have to wonder why ferrari keep him on (until now any way)

    sure holding up another driver is part of TEAM racing but its never helped you win yourself has it? (i guess ferrari arn’t interested in the constructors cup any more)

    if you partake in such driving and get hit ofcourse your not to blame…but you sure can’t start blameing any boddy else but yourself can you

    like the ”road driving” comments before, if you slam on your breaks for no reason other than to ‘pee’ off the driver driving to close behind you and he hits you the law says the accident is the fault of the driver behind for driving too close…but you’d only really have your self to blame if you got hit from behind in such circumstances …wouldn’t you!

    I have always been ferraris biggest critic when it comes to their ‘sporting conduct’ but I was beginning to change my opinion this year, they really do seem to have grown up under stefeno’s direction but its little things like this that make me wonder if they are there to play by the spirit of the rules or just throw their toys out of pram cos they build a rubbish car and can’t win again

    one this is for sue though…lets hope they never ever allow 3 car teams like ferrari keep pushing for, 1 ferrari sponsored speed bump in F1 is enough for me!

    1. If he’s got the third best car shouldn’t the maximum he and Alonso should achieve be 5th and 6th? He’s just doing what the car is capable of and Alonso is making the car look better than it is.

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        2nd October 2011, 12:51

        Making it look better than it is? That’s impossible. Alonso is getting every last drop of performance of of that car, granted, and well done to him. But he is also relying on his team, with Massa, to hobble the competitors he’s still rubbish to overtake I’m afraid.

        1. The one’s that time and again he overtakes on the first lap? ;)

          1. Trenthamfolk (@)
            3rd October 2011, 21:43

            If Alonso was as good as his devotees make out, he’d be champion. But he’s not. Again, he’s relying on a lesser team mate to do his dirty work for him. Like Piquet Jnr, like Massa. NOT like Hamilton.

            I admit that Hamilton is making mistakes, which is more than the Alonso fans will admit, but hey, I’m not a Hamilton fan, I just hate cheats… like Ferrari.

            Everywhere Alonso goes there’s trouble!

      2. Well, that’s why it was important to make sure HAM was held back, wasn’t it?

        If HAM hadn’t had the collision and drive-through, his pace (and the distance of 13s between them at end of race) seems to suggest HAM would have been right on Alonso, if not well ahead and fighting with Webber or even Button.

        That’s why I think this message clearly meant that Massa was used to stop HAM hampering Alonso, getting a fourth spot in the race rather than 5th and 6th. Had Massa had more luck (well, this season …) he might have been able to get 6th anyway.

  26. Ok Rob S’s instructions had emotional overtones linked to previously perceived injustice but defensive driving is a perfectly legitimate racing tatic. However I have to agree it is a bit tedious to have a driver who job it seems is to be a permanent rolling road block for his team mate. Also if you are going to use defensive driving to the max then you have to accept that there is a higher chance of a collision, even if it is often the following drivers fault, so the post-race outrage seems a little misplaced.

    1. I also think that it might have been better to calm Massa to not care it was Hamilton, but just make sure he kept that car behind him – it might have helped him make more of his race afterwards, for one.

  27. And despite ‘destroying’ his race, Hamilton finished well into the points, 4 places ahead of him.

    Way to go, Massa and Smedley!

    1. Trenthamfolk (@)
      2nd October 2011, 12:51

      Haha…

    2. That’s largely due to the fact that ironically, Hamilton ‘destroyed’ Massa’s race.

      1. The chickens coming home to roost eh?!

      2. Well, in a way, what you reap, you sow. Ferrari seemed happy to take that chance really. Still a stupid mistake by Hamilton, and still very sad for Massa.

        But I think Ferrari got what it deserved, and wanted: Alonso ahead of Hamilton, and even Massa in the points, thanks to their strategic use of drivers. Massa knows he should be at least partly annoyed with his team, but of course, that doesn’t make his feelings at all easier.

  28. Happy birthday Scribe and Stacy!

    Also, happy birthday to Mark-L, who’s name isn’t on the list

    1. Yes, birthday shout out for Scribe and for Stacy and Mark-L!

  29. are you seriously trying to say every team should focus on trying to get 1 driver to win the championship and use the other to hold up the competition to try to improve their chances of getting a good result?

    dosn’t sound like F1 to me…more like cheating

    1. No, it’s called teamwork.

      Both drivers should have an equal stab at the championship from the start of the season (unless their contract states otherwise) but if one of them starts to drag out a lead where it makes sense to back them then of course the team should focus on as many points as they can.

  30. I think Rob should choose his words very carefully on the Radio.You never know how Felipe could have interpreted ;

    Destroy his race as much as we can

    Of course Felipe is not stupid & wouldnt risk ruining his race in the process but like i mentioned above you never know,Whether to Crash into him,which would have meant both drivers’lives were at risk or make multiple moves in a Braking Zone to slow down Lewis when almost evitable.

    I wonder if that Message was sent before the end of the 1st Stint when Hamilton stuck on the Options for the 2nd,The Message may have been the reason why McLaren went down that route(If they heard it,which i think is Unlikely) to ensure Lewis’ race werent ruined.Just My Suggestions.What do you think?

    1. I doubt that Massa would have understood it that way, there are many ways he can destroy someone’s race, the easiest way being to hold him up.

      1. And anyway, the incident wasn’t Massa’s fault, and even if it was, it didn’t destroy Hamilton’s race, and certainly didn’t help Massa.

  31. The best thing about that FOM race edit? Schumacher’s face when he’s out of the car. Last season and earlier this season he would have just calmly shrugged his shoulders and laughed it off but it was good to see him so annoyed about it, like he felt he actually had something to lose; his recent form.

    1. He did look very annoyed, didn’t he?

    2. Very true, he looked more like he would have when he was really fighting for something here. It shows he really is back on it and fighting for positions, even if not as high up as he would like.

    3. Well said, that was very telling, and a good sign for his form, even if the moment was probably not one he will regard with fondness :)

  32. petebaldwin (@)
    2nd October 2011, 11:25

    So you have two drivers… One is trying to win races desperately (perhaps too hard at times). The other is simply trying to ruin the race for others..

    I’m delighted it backfired on Massa and even more delighted that Hamilton beat Massa to the championship in 2008. Never has a driver been in 2008 who deserves less.

    Schumacher was widely criticised for cheating back in the day but he did so to win races. Atleast his goal was to win and become champion. Massa is just there to pick up his wage and do whatever the team says. I’d rather drive for HRT than be the 2nd driver for Ferrari – as a driver, I can’t think of anything worse than knowing you are not trying to win races.

    1. +1, truth has been spoken at last.

  33. As Casey Stoner saying to Valentino Rossi, “you just ran out of talent”. Same applies to Hamilton. The way he races, his judgement will make him either a hero or a zero.

  34. Does this put things in perspective since fellow drivers tend to fight Lewis bit more then eachother? And does this explain why Lewis has a bigger chance to colide since he needs to fight harder (take more risk)?

    Interesting!

  35. I’m amazed Massa hasn’t landed one on Smedley already, the man’s a total tool and if he kept telling me how to drive my racing car i think i’d tell him to **** and do it himself if he thinks he can.

    1. Smedley and Massa have been working together for ages. If he wasn’t giving Massa the information he requires I doubt Massa would have stuck with him this long.

    2. Rather than putting the blame on Smedley, you should target the Ferrari team management for thinking about their strategy for one of their drivers like this.

  36. Dont try to take the guilt away from Hamilton… Hamiltons race is always to be in front of Alonso, and what Smedley was saying to Massa was: Dont let him pass you that easy, cause he will get Alonso also. He(Smedley) ment make him(Hamiltom) lose as much time as you can make him lose. All intension was on Alonso to not to get past. And remember this, Alonso and Hamilton have their personal battle that they bring in every race…

    1. Which still must be an absolutely lousy thing to hear as a F1-driver: please go and slow yourself to hold up someone else for your team mate who is faster than you. Have fun.

      Exactly why I don’t much like these type of team orders.

  37. Oh my god! Massa really tried to destroy Hamilton’s race!
    Clearly proof that Massa was at fault for the accident!
    Just like Barrichello really tried to kill Heidfeld in China ’06.
    Seriously though. Sometimes things have to be taken with a pinch of salt. It was clearly not a direct instruction, it was just to get Massa fired up to hold Hamilton behind for as long as possible.

  38. I can’t believe so many people are taking the comment ‘destroy’ literally. What, you really think he’d sacrifice his own car to inflict minor damage on Hamiltons? The incident was 100% Lewis’ fault and this team radio does nothing to change that.

    It’s hardly surprising that other teams and drivers don’t want Lewis to have it easy with all the mishaps he’s been getting into recently. Especially in Massa’s case, after he was taken out by Hamilton in Monaco it doesn’t surprise me that there’s a bit of needle between the pair.

    1. I think its rather a reflection of how close Hamilton got onto Alonso’s rear wing in Monza, that Ferrari puts a lot of thought into using Massa to hold up Hamilton to do the same in Singapore.

      It really shows how much Massa being this far behind Alonso often has been about a strategy that was more focussed on getting it optimised for Alonso’s results than considerations about where Massa would finish. A sorry place to be in for Massa really.

    2. Well, you are right about the blame for the incident, and from a strategy point I can see what they were aiming at as a race team.

      However, on a more human level, shouldn’t the team be helping Massa get over that frustration rather than firing him up to go and make things harder for Hamilton, risking even more anguish for their driver? It seems hardly a good way to get Massa back to his old level and confidence. To me, it is a poor show of form from Ferrari in that way.

      It really seems to point to them being a rather bad environment to work in for Massa at the moment.

  39. I hope those who were bashing Hamilton will fat a humble pie. Trying to ruin the race of another driver who is faster than you will only lead to one thing, accident. This is because he’ll try to overtake and You’ll try hard not to let it happen which will lead to the inevitable. People were advocating for Hamilton to be banned because he is dangerous driver. Now we know the truth.

    1. Jesus!
      So because the driver in front is slower he should just let the others pass?
      Like Vettel should let Button and Alonso pass in Monaco because defending against a faster car is now very dangerous? Or like Senna should have let Mansell pass him, again in Monaco in 1992.
      What great duels those would have been, had the slower driver just pulled to the side and waved the others by.
      Defending is a part of racing. It is up to the driver behind to find a way by without driving straight into the back of them.
      And it is up to the driver in front to hold the other driver up, without weaving dangerously.
      The accident didn’t happen because Hamilton was faster and Massa was in front of him.
      It happened because Hamilton didn’t know where his front wing were going and he turned into the back of Massa’s car.

      1. I’m not saying the slower driver should allow the faster driver to pass. Yes, defending is part of racing but there is proper race defence and acting sheepishly according to team orders. I’ve said in the past that most overtakes happens nicely because the driver being overtaken acts reasonably. you wouldn’t expect massa, who has been told ruin Hamilton’s race to act reasonably when he is being overtaken. He needs to focus on making his position felt in Ferrari, rather than allow him to be used to enhance Alonso’s position. What even makes it worse is his behaviour after the race. That is just wrong!

        1. Then tell me what Massa did wrong.
          What Massa was told, where he is at Ferrari and how good he is, is irrelevant. What matters is what happened on track.
          As far as I see it, he did NOTHING wrong.

    2. Fat a humble pie?

  40. Here’s an article on how the India region where the GP will be hosted is pretty short on hotel rooms.

  41. Of course we don’t actually know at what stage of the race Smedley said that to Massa. When it happened matters but it was not “destroy his car”… Hamilton was still at fault.

  42. Funny how FOM probably know they have found a jewel to put into that race edit and its out early!

    I must say that singapore ed. is really lovely visually and if I would need any footage to sell F1 to someone, this would be high on my list. If only the live coverage was as good.

    1. Watch out, the BBC and Bernie will be using your comment to show why delayed race-edits are a good thing, by leaving out the context that you first saw the race as it happened!

  43. btw any guess who asked for a driver/stewards meeting before the japan gp with hamilton?

    1. Well, maybe they should talk about it with this bit of info added, and discuss how far you can go, and expect a driver in front to go, in “destroying” a race. And then talk about what a driver behind is allowed to avoid that – and how to not then get frustrated and “destroy” both cars’ races …

    2. No idea but Kovalainen has said on twitter that he wont be attending as he see’s nothing wrong.

  44. I wonder how Massa feels going from nearly winning in 2008 to mobile chicane blocker whose only job is to keep rivals from getting to Alonso

    1. His frustration after the race seems to show pretty well how he feels about that, I think. Sad for him, he really seems to be a nice guy.

  45. F1 is a team sport. Always has been. Back in the 50’s the senior driver would actually jump out of his car and get in no.2’s car to race. Yes, that was then, this is now, but somethings never change. Since Alonso is so far ahead in points, Massa should be expected to assist, with or without team orders. Massa’s relationship with Smedley is based on the years they’ve worked together, and Smedley ‘helping’ Massa in the earlier days to calm him down and race intelligently. I can think of a few drivers today that could use something like that. Whatever verbiage the team uses is completely immaterial.
    Bottom line, if a driver is defending his position, be it on his own or via team orders, he shouldn’t expect to be rammed from behind, irregardless. History has proven that some of the greatest drivers F1 has ever known were the best defenders of their positions, Brabham, Senna, Schu, they all got their reputations, good or bad, from actively defending their positions. If your reputation is dependent upon your passing prowess, you need to learn how to cancel everyone elses defense. IMHO.
    IRT being number 2 in a team, yes that’s demoralizing to a point. Look at Webber today and Massa. Instead of being in a team with the best car on the track (RB) and positioned no.2 in the standings (something Webber should be), standing on the podium often and gaining points, winning whenever number 1 messes up, I’d much prefer to be no.1 with another team, like, hmmmm, Bar/Honda, HRT, Lotus or something like that, and never see the podium again in my career. But, I’d be number one. Hmm, I’ll get back to you on that one….

  46. So the DRS zone seems to be on the straight for Japan http://thef1times.com/news/display/04592

  47. In the heat of the moment I think Rob Smedley or any other race engineer would be saying everything and anything in order to coax their race driver into performing.

    After all that’s part of a race engineers job, isn’t it?

  48. Damn, the music is very weak on the race edit. Where have gone songs from such groups as Oasis, Stereophonics, Muse and Wolfmother? These songs were awsome with F1 footage, but the song here is awful!

    1. I honestly didn’t even notice it at all! Not sure if that is bad or good though :-p

  49. themagicofspeed (@)
    2nd October 2011, 23:07

    As a Ferrari fan first and an F1 fan second, this is what i like to see…however i dont appreciate Massa interpereting ‘destroy his race’ as ‘crash’. The video shows he was unusually late on the power, allowing Hamilton (not renowned as the most agile and careful of drivers) to crash straight into him.

    Besides, Massa isnt brilliant at keeping people behind, and thats a hell of an understatement..

  50. The thing about language is that it is a contract between the people conversing. The listener must try to interpret what was meant from what was said, just as much as the speaker must try and convey what they mean.

    This thread is a good argument for keeping team radio messages private. Smedley knew how Massa would interpret his message, Massa knew what Smedley meant. The language contract was between the two of them. Everyone else here is listening in on their conversation and making their own interpretation. If we are going to do that we can’t do it just from our point of view. We have to pretend we are Massa and interpret it the way he would.

    If the message was meant for us Smedley would probably have worded it differently. My own interpretation is that the word choice was meant to fire Massa up. We know Massa is an emotional driver. He must respond better to impassioned encouragement, rather than simple instruction.

    1. This thread is a good argument for keeping team radio messages private.

      It makes a far stronger case for making the radio broadcasts entirely public, as opposed to the current system of only releasing a few clips that aren’t necessarily in context.

      If we were able to review everything said between Smedley and Massa in this race, and earlier races, we’d be far better informed about how they operate.

      And surely that is preferable to being completely in the dark about it?

      1. totaly agree. if they want to have some secrets they better learn some klingon language from star trek

      2. Exactly, for all we know Smedley uses this strong and emotional language to fire up Massa all the time. And messages from earlier occasions do seem to indicate something like that. If they were all public, we could just see them in context, and know if they were something out of the ordinary or not.

        And we wouldn’t have to wait for the race edits to pick out juicy bits (again, out of context and without the correct timing).

      3. I agree with that as well Keith, it begs to put these messages out in the open immediately. To argue the other way around is just incomprehensible for me.

        It was surely an important factor in why Massa was so upset, he had been instructed to put his team mates results high above his own and it ended up ruining any chance he had of getting a decent points haul in.

        1. You can argue that they should be open, but I don’t know that is should be incomprehensible to you that anyone suggests they should be private. Do you follow any football code? Are the half time team talks broadcast in full? I’ve never seen that done, occasionally you get a reporter giving a summary of what was said (someone who has a good understanding of the way coaches communicate). Do you find this approach incomprehensible?

      4. That’s a fair point. I think there will always be people who (almost) wilfully misinterpret what people say, but a greater awareness amongst the rest of us of how drivers and engineers usually communicate could counter-act that.

  51. In the previous topic i said there are two types of defense. Positive and Negative. Now i am sure after watching the race edit people would understand more what i tried to say.

    Massa falls into the Negative defense category. His personality after the first race of 2010 has changed and slowly he became too negative. I can feel it, his body language, interviews..etc. Remember him helping Alonso at Monza qualifying(helping him slipstream). No other teammate was doing this.

    What is even worse than this Smedley-Massa plotting to destroy Hamilton’s race is that afterwards he was blaming Lewis TOTALLY for the crash. Surely after hearing the race edit all will accept that Massa was also at fault. Lewis maybe have now understood Massa and his ugly/negative personality post 2009 is not on talking terms with Massa and don’t respect him. I think Lewis is right, you see we all know what happened with Alonso and Hamilton but still they both respect each other and after German GP we saw they even gave each other a hug, but this Massa is so bad that Hamilton no more talks and respects him.

    Hope Massa and some other negative drivers(Maldanado at Spa) get kicked out of F1 after this year.

    1. +1
      Massa’s reaction after the race just shows how ugly he has become. Has he focused on his driving a bit more, he would have already some offers for 2013. Best place for him now: HRT if not out of F1.
      We can all agree that what we want is pure racing. Yes Hamilton has been clumsy this year, but he is really doing the show!

  52. “fernando is faster than you”
    “destroy his race”

  53. I don’t think this changes anything. The collision was still entirely Hamilton’s fault. Massa might not be the force he once was, but Lewis is in danger of falling out of the top 10 best drivers in F1. Shame.

  54. It was obviously just a racing incident and no more should be read into it than that, especially by Massa, especially considering the ‘destroy his race as much as we can’ comments.

    Massa is walking a tightrope and is not likely to win another F1 race let alone a title in his time left in F1. In the light of those comments that coming together is almost Piquetesque.

    Their final positions say it all. Lewis finished one place behind Alonso while Massa was much further back despite the fact that both suffered about the same amount of loss of time one way or another.

  55. The fact Hamilton served a drive through means the stewards didn’t have to investigate for brake testing since they just relied on the visual evidence.
    Let us not also forget this is Ferrari, not all their actions appear rational.
    Destroy his race means use every means to keep him behind, every form of extreme driving.
    Massa is a very junior number 2 driver Ferrari can afford to destroy his race if it will advance their other car, we saw a lot of that last year.

  56. I don’t think Massa did anything wrong during the race. But for the sake of the sport, I think that comments given by teams (those that are recorded and published) should be conditional, in other words, they should not contain content that may imply negative intention towards other drivers.

    It would have been enough for Smedley to say: “keep Hamilton behind for as long as you can”. However, talking about ruining or destroying someone’s race is a bit out of line and such comments should be avoided in my opinion. I am not sure if current rules prohibit this sort of thing but if not, some guidelines should be implemented soon.

  57. f1fanindia (@)
    3rd October 2011, 12:41

    Masa the next PQ Junior helping Alonso. An embrassment F1. Fire him.

  58. So disappointing. What’s F1 coming to?? Its time i found another sport to be passionate about.

  59. Just goes to show how phony all that post-race whingeing for Massa was.

  60. Has Massa deliberately been slow on the exit, this would be called “unsportmanlike behaviour”.
    The word “destroy” has to be considered carefully, and before commenting, we should think how Massa would have understood it. Fact is that Massa’s reaction after the race shows now a curious side of this driver who has only been a no2 driver, thus of little use for sponsors (and why Alonso is always favoured).
    The question we should ask is wheter Smedley says “destroy” for every cars that are about to overtake Massa. I don’t think so… This Comment+Massa’s reaction only brings discredit to Ferrari and hurts a bit the sport considering all the comments against Hamilton.
    It is a shame that pure racers are always penalised, and drivers like Massa victimised. Where’s racing gone?

    1. The driver in front can drive as fast or as slow as they like. Period. That is their right as the lead car. Occasionally the following car doesn’t anticipate the moves of the car ahead and a collision occurs, but the rules make it their fault.

      1. That’s not strictly true. You cannot suddenly change speed when going through a corner and take it much slower than you did last time.

        You cannot brake test.

        These are very dangerous scenarios.

        However I am NOT suggesting that is what Massa did, just clarifying the point. You cannot yoyo your speed. It’s the equivalent to zigzagging to prevent a car overtaking.

  61. Trenthamfolk (@)
    3rd October 2011, 20:39

    I’ve been thinking… considering where the footage with the incriminating radio message was posted (formula1.com) and considering the hours and hours of messages they had to select from, there appears to be a definite motive at work here.

    They (the editors) will have known that this would stir up a storm of controversy, so you have to wonder what message they were trying to send. A warning shot across Ferrari’s bow perhaps? Perhaps they were attempting to bring a balance to Massa’s pre and post race comments? Perhaps it was just publicity at Ferrari’s expense?

    Thoughts anyone?

    1. a,b,c and d.

  62. I just have one question. Had LH’s engineer told him the exact same thing,and Massa had lost his wing, how many of you would be calling for LH to be banned for life..
    Both FM and Smedley are still bitter about 08. Look at all of the incidences involving FM and LH since.

    1. I had a very smart-alecky comment written up, but decided it would overly excite the inmates on this floor.
      If, overlooking the various comments here, one were to flip the results of this incident as you surmise, I think the same ones swearing for FM’s head would continue to do so. After all, FM should be more careful around LH’s car, of course, and as all the individuals inhabiting this area will tell you, often, FM has absolutely no right to be in the same hemisphere or on the same race track, much less challenging LH there. That violates one of Newtons laws or something.
      I won’t touch 08’s results, that’s truly what racing is all about. I think it’s more of a personality, vs. lack of personality clash, imho.

  63. More on the Smedley/Massa/Hamilton story:

    Ferrari deny Massa was told to cause Hamilton crash

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