McLaren and Ferrari Team bosses have asked the “magnetic” Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton to sort out their differences after the two drivers collided for the sixth time this season during the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.
It all happened at turn five in lap 24, when Hamilton in an attempt to pass Massa hit the side pod of the Ferrari racer but stewards ruled that it was the Brazilian’s fault and imposed a drive-through penalty on him.
“They’re young drivers but they’re not that young. They are men. They’ve got to figure it out for themselves. They have to sort it out. They’ve been coming together too frequently. Clearly Lewis and Felipe are magnetic,” McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh said.
Whitmarsh’s counterpart at Ferrari, Stefano Domenicali, said regular contacts between the two drivers were not good for them.
“We can sit down together and play cards but it will not solve the issue. One thing that is crucial in my view is that we need to make sure there is a coherent approach from the stewards about things that happen on the track.
“We cannot avoid the fact there were a lot of kisses between them on the track. We cannot have these things being bigger than they are because they will be on the mind of the drivers, which is not good,” Domenicali was quoted as saying in The Guardian .
Meanwhile, Hamilton has apologised to his team for the poor result as he finished seventh while his teammate Jenson Button secured the second position behind winner Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.
“There is not much to say. ‘Disappointed’ would be an understatement. I tried to overtake but I tried to pull out of it as he didn’t give me any space and we collided. I’ve had to apologise to the team after yet another disastrous race. It’s been an eventful year. Felipe (Massa) is very reluctant to let me by. He makes his car as wide as he can,” the Briton said.
