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Lowe admits Massa should have won Azerbaijan GP

Published on 14 Dec 2017 15:04
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By: Fergal Walsh

Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has stated that Felipe Massa should have emerged victorious at this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Brazilian suffered from issues with his damper system which saw him retire from the race.

Daniel Ricciardo would eventually win the hectic Grand Prix, but Lowe believes that without his car troubles, it would have been Massa on the top step in Baku. While several drivers (including the Force India duo) claim they could have won, Lowe says analysis show Massa was in the prime position.

Front-runners Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both were forced to make unscheduled trips to the pitlane for a headrest change and 10 second time penalty respectively. Lowe revealed that he feels "gutted" the team denied him a victory in his final year in the sport.

"After Baku, which was a pretty eventful race, there were a lot of people that came up to me afterwards and said we could've won that race if only," Lowe told Autosport. "I analysed it and I don't actually agree with most, but I definitely agreed with the Felipe scenario.

"If only we hadn't let him down with a car failure, he absolutely would've won that race. It's such a shame that in his final year, we denied him that victory. Everybody's gutted about that, but that's the story of motorsport sometimes."

The veteran raced in F1 for the last time at Abu Dhabi last month, bringing an end to a lengthy career. Lowe labelled Massa as a "fantastic" guy and praised him for the help he gave to Lance Stroll, his rookie teammate in 2017.

"He's a fantastic guy. There's nobody in the paddock that isn't a friend of Felipe and he's great fun to work with because he's always happy and that's not actually the case with all drivers. He's been a tremendous support to Lance, and giving him a lot of guidance along the way, which is to really be admired and respected. That's the kind of driver he is."

Fergal Walsh

Barron

Posts: 625

I think a bash in the face from a flying spring @ 200kph will do that for you. He did well to come back. The point is not so much that Massa stayed on beyond his sell by date, it is that teams employed him. He can’t be blamed for that - you all would do the same thing. Massa stayed on as long a... [Read more]

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Dec 14 2017 - 19:14

F1 News Felipe Massa Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Lance Stroll Force India Williams

Replies (4)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
It's clear the he was well liked in the paddock. However, I still think of him mostly as the underachieving (lately mediocre) driver who always complained and blamed others when things didn't go right. I still remember vividly his behavior during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns when he was actually winning. I haven't been so happy to see someone retire in a while. He really needed to go. The only other driver that I want to see gone is Raikkonen who is beyond mediocre at this point.
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- Dec 14 2017 - 18:22
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  So pretty much an older Grosjean? But year, I wasnt ever a Massa fan, he was okay, but nothing people were screaming for. As for Kimi: its really just nicer to let him retire. At this rate, icemans is losing popularity, and its still not too late to go out on a sorta high note.
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  Dec 14 2017 - 18:55
Barron

Posts: 625
I think a bash in the face from a flying spring @ 200kph will do that for you. He did well to come back. The point is not so much that Massa stayed on beyond his sell by date, it is that teams employed him. He can’t be blamed for that - you all would do the same thing. Massa stayed on as long as he did because teams wanted him not the other way around. I salute Felipe for his service in F1!
- + 1
- Dec 14 2017 - 19:14
RSV MILLE

Posts: 698
If and maybe...
Where was Max driving when his engine failed?
He could have won it easy as well.
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- Dec 14 2017 - 21:11