Felipe Massa has blasted the Brazilian race stewards for penalising him, describing his drive-through as “unacceptable” and a great “shame”.
The Ferrari driver repeatedly crossed the white line denoting the pitlane entry and was warned by his engineer Rob Smedley not to do it again. However he did and was subsequently handed the penalty.
During the race he raved over the over the team radio and gesticulated to his team as he passed through the pits.
After the race he said the stewards abused their power and ruined what could have been a great result in his last race for Ferrari.
“It was really a shame. I was having a great race and then, suddenly, I got a drive-through penalty for crossing the line on the main straight.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t overtake cars outside the track, I didn’t hold anyone up. It was really a shame,” he said.
“These guys [the stewards] think they have all the power and they can do all they want. It’s a shame more for them, not for me. Everyone saw it. I’m sure I wasn’t the only car to do that.
“I think it was pretty unacceptable, to be honest. I’m sure I was not the only car that crossed that line, but I was the only car that got a drive-through for that.”
He revealed that had he been behind team-mate Fernando Alonso and in contention for a podium, the Spaniard offered to move over for him.
“My race today was going to be fourth place and maybe third, Fernando was maybe going to back off and let me by,” said Massa. “The race could’ve been a much better result than it was, but it was still very emotional.”
