Massa blames traffic for unexpected Q1 elimination

40

Felipe Massa will start tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix from a low P18 after the Brazilian blamed traffic for his botched Q1 run.

Suffering his worst qualifying performance since Russia in 2014, Massa said Williams did not leave him enough time to do a second run if needed having been hampered by other cars.

"There were slow cars going out of the garages in front of me on my lap, and then we didn't have time to go again," explained the Williams driver.

"For sure we didn't take the right approach and procedure to go out with enough time on the first run, traffic happened and then we could not go again. It was really frustrating."

Speaking to Britain's Channel 4 from the Williams pit wall at the time of Massa's elimination, technical director Pat Symonds was surprised by the Brazilian's unexpected underperformance, saying that GPS data appeared to indicate that his driver's run had not been hindered by other cars.

But later, Massa begged to differ, ultimately blaming his team for the poor timing of his qualifying attempt.

"The team decides when we go out for sure, we know that we just have one lap and we need to save the tyres so we needed to go with a little bit more margin."

QUALIFYING REPORT: Hamilton leaves it late to take Barcelona pole

Drivers react to Red Bull seat swap

Romain Grosjean column: Spain will show the real Haas

Chris Medland's 2016 Spanish Grand Prix preview

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.