Not surprisingly when he met the media after the Indian GP Felipe Massa insisted that he didn’t know why he was given a drive thru penalty following the contact with Lewis Hamilton.
Massa said that he was the innocent party in the incident, which was the sixth time this year that the two drivers have been involved in a controversy.
“My view is that I braked later than him,” said Massa. “I was in front, I was on the grippy area as well and then I started to turn. And I didn’t see him on the left. So he was behind. And he touched my rear wheel. So, to be honest I don’t understand why I have the penalty. It’s really not understandable.
Asked if there was now feud between the two drivers, Massa said: “Maybe for him. Because in all the incidents, he touched my car. So, I didn’t do anything wrong. When I saw that he put the car on my side, what can I do? It was very dirty, in his place, so I braked on the clean side, on the grippy side, I braked later than him and I start to turn, and he is behind me.
“To be honest, if it’s Lewis or not Lewis, whatever the driver is there, I would do the same. Because I am on the good grippy side.”
When it was suggested that TV images showed him looking in his mirrors, Massa said: “I knew he was on my side. But when I braked, this is the important place, not when you are on the straight. When I braked, he was not on my side. So I turned, because I braked later than him, you know.
“I cannot understand why I am supposed to back off and let him by, no? I braked later. He was on the dirty side, and then I turned, and he touched me from behind. He did not touch on my side, or wheel-to-wheel. If it was wheel-to-wheel, I would not try to close the door.”
Adam Cooper F1 
If it looks like bullsh*t, and it smells like bullsh*t………………
Of course that’s what he says.
If he didn’t know where Lewis was, how does he know he braked later?…
When it was the other way around, Felipe was crying that Lewis should have left more space for him. I guess it doesn’t matter what the situation is, as long as noone tries to overtake Felipe Massa, as he’s the untouchable one!
Some fan created a new helmet design for Lewis, maybe he really should use that!
I’ve been no fan of Lewis this year and he has deserved the punishments handed down to him. Equally there was no doubt in my mind yesterday that the fault lay 100% with Massa. Hamiltons nose got as far inside Massa as the front sidepods before he started to brake for the corner, there is no way that Massa didn’t know he was there and having got that far Massa should have left him a little more room.
I agree, I’m not a Hamilton fan (primarily because he drives into so many people and can’t stay within the laws of the sport, although I respect his pace), but yesterday for me was certainly Massa’s fault. It reminded me of incidents like Singapore 2010 with Lewis & Mark Webber.
At the time I did think ‘What is Massa doing?!’. I wasn’t surprised Massa got a pen, in general my view seems to be mirrored by the Stewards, thus I think they’ve got most of the decisions right this season.
I can’t understand why he didn’t tell something like “We was batteling very hard, I try to close the door the maximum and it was too late”. Massa never use his brain, he don’t learn from his errors.. ^^
What goes around comes around, I think Felipe was in the wrong on this one. Lewis has a habit of sticking his nose in, and giving the other driver a choice of back off or mishap, but the opposite can be done by closing the door on an attempted overtake, which is what Massa was penalized for.
Nothing but a racing incident, both were aggressive on their offensive/defensive maneuvers, both collided, both are on a low 2012 season trying to muscle against each other. Period.
To me the accident almost had the strange look of Massa trying to make Hamilton look bad (after several accidents this season that were simply Lewis’ fault). Almost like a dive would be in football.