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Formula 1 Brazilian GP
Angry Massa claims Sainz admitted he ruined Q3 lap "on purpose"
Felipe Massa claims Carlos Sainz admitted that he disrupted his first Q3 lap in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying – but Sainz has subsequently denied doing so.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Nov 11, 2017, 6:49 PM
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Williams driver Massa – who will start his final home grand prix on Sunday – starred in Q1 and Q2 with fourth and seventh-fastest times respectively.
But he will start 10th after being forced to abort his first Q3 run after coming across Sainz's Renault at Turn 4, and then suffering a big slide at the following corner after shaking his fist.
"I was so happy with the car in Q1 and Q2, and unfortunately in Q3 I had a driver, Carlos Sainz, disturbing my lap on purpose, on purpose," said Massa.
"And I think that's really amazing, because when you have a mistake from the engineer or maybe didn't know the car was coming, it can happen. But on purpose, no.
"I was much more front of him when I left the garage. After corner five I let him go, but I was a lot more in front of him. He was completely in front of me, very close, and I lost, you can see in the laptime. That's what happened.
"I even spoke to him and said 'this time you disturbed me on purpose, you knew I was coming.' And he said, 'Yeah, I knew, because you disturbed me yesterday in the long run.'
"I said 'come on man, we are in the qualifying, you know…' He did it on purpose and for me that is completely unacceptable, and this disrupted my qualifying to be maybe four of five positions in front."
When asked to clarify where their conversation had taken place, and whether he hopes race direction will take action, Massa replied: "Not here [in the media pen], over there [pointing towards parc ferme] he told me that. I don't know what he will say to the media.
"I really hope [the stewards] understand and they see what happened. It was clear I did the corner very close to him. He knew I was there and he didn't let me by, knowing that I was coming."
Sainz denial
When asked about Massa's allegation that he blocked him deliberately, Sainz said: "No, not at all.
"It's a very strong accusation to say I did something on purpose. He could have got out of the way before, in Turn 4. I had to do Turn 4 behind him and I was impeded by him by 2-3 tenths in my first lap of Q3.
"Then he started complaining, talking about yesterday. I don't know why. It's something I don't understand at the moment. I don't know, I wasn't really listening, because for me it's not worth it.
"Yesterday we had some issues on track, for sure, but in qualifying I am never going to risk to penalise someone."
Additional reporting by Glenn Freeman
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