'Cursed' Massa escapes penalty

Felipe Massa: I think I was really cursed today! This morning in qualifying, because of traffic, I failed to get into Q3. This afternoon in the race, I didn't even manage to get through the first two corners.

Robert Wilkins_1

10 Oct 2010

Race, Felipe Massa (BRA), Scuderia Ferrari, F10 retires from the race
© PHOTO 4

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was bitterly disappointed following the F1 2010 Japanese Grand Prix today.

Massa, who had only qualified 12th, went off at the first corner, collecting Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India. Both men retired on the spot. The Brazilian, unsurprisingly, was not at all happy, although the fact the stewards opted not to punish him was one bonus.

"I think I was really cursed today!" Massa said. "This morning in qualifying, because of traffic, I failed to get into Q3. This afternoon in the race, I didn't even manage to get through the first two corners.

"At the start, [Nico] Rosberg, who was in front of me, got away poorly and at first I tried to move to the left, but [Adrian] Sutil was coming there.

"Then I moved to the right, but in so doing I found myself on the grass and the kerb. At that point the car took off on its own, I was unable to make it through the first corner and I ended up colliding with Liuzzi's Force India.

"It's a shame, because as Fernando [Alonso] showed, in the race our car had a good pace and I could have fought for a points finish. The main problem is still qualifying: again today I struggled, even if traffic played its part. In the race, the situation is better but we know how difficult it is to overtake.

"These past two races have been frustrating for me but we have seen many times this year how quickly the situation can change: I will be trying my very best in the remaining three Grand Prix."

Liuzzi was similarly displeased: "I'm disappointed that for the second race in a row I couldn't do more than a couple of laps," the Italian added. "At the time I was a passenger really.

"I had a great start and passed five or six cars before the first corner and thought I was pretty safe but then when I went into turn one I saw Felipe coming up on the inside - I don't know if he had broken something on the car but he seemed to come into my side like a bullet.

"I don't think he was in control of the car at the time, but it's a shame as it's another first corner accident and then retirement for me. I'm now going to go back to the factory to prepare for Korea and not dwell on this - it happens and we need to move on."