06/10/2011
NEWS STORY
While admitting that he's not had the best of seasons, Felipe Massa insists that in terms of Lewis Hamilton what happened in Singapore stays in Singapore.
While sections of the press still hope for a grudge match this weekend, Felipe Massa is having none of it, telling reporters in Japan that his frustration in Singapore was more about his continued run of bad luck.
"It's true I've not had much luck this season, with punctures, or someone hitting me, or other things happening and I hope that the situation changes for the last five races," said the Brazilian.
"That's why I found it so frustrating when I was hit in the Singapore Grand Prix," he continued. "I was disappointed after the race, but come Monday and I was already thinking about the next race. What's past is past and we need to think about the future."
Determined not to let the media have its way and turn this weekend's race into a side show, the Ferrari driver took the bull by the horns and opted to raise the subject of what happened with Lewis Hamilton in Singapore. "I have not spoken to Hamilton and he did not want to speak to me at the time," he said. "That's why I was even more disappointed because, if I was him, I would have wanted to say sorry. I had tried to speak to him away from the media, but as he did not want to, I did what I did in front of the media. I have no reason to speak to him now about this as the matter is closed as far as I am concerned. If he wants to come and talk to me, then that's fine too."
Asked about comments made by his engineer Rob Smedley during the race, Massa said: "If you listen to everybody's radios you will hear strange things all the time. For sure, we are in competition and things like this happen in every sport.
"Rob was just trying to push me," he continued, "he was not suggesting I should destroy another driver's race and that is clear, because I would not do it anyway, even if he had asked me to. Rob always talks to me a lot and that is fine for me because it is the way we work together."
As for the Maranello outfit's aim to finish second in both championships, Massa beleives the team must approach each race individually. "We will try and finish as high up the order as possible in these remaining races, we will try and win and try to be competitive up against the other teams, which has not been the case in recent races."
Asked about Sebastian Vettel's domination of the season, the Brazilian, who was world champion for around thirty seconds in 2008, replied: "All drivers would like to have a year like his: winning the title with five races to go is definitely an incredible victory. His worst result so far has been a fourth place and he has had a perfect year. Sure, with the car he had, he has also been impeccable in qualifying so he has started every race at the front, which has been a great help during the race."