Massa May Have Intentionally “Destroyed” Hamilton’s Race

A radio message from the paddock suggesting that Felipe Massa intentionally sought to ruin Lewis Hamilton’s race in Singapore has given the recent controversy new life. In its own video edit of the race, Formula 1 has broadcast a message from Massa’s engineer Rob Smedley that was not made public during the race itself. In the video – posted on the official F1 website – Smedley urges Massa to “Hold Hamilton as much as we can. Destroy his race as much as we can. Come on, boy . . .” It is unclear from the video when the radio transmission took place.

Hamilton – who struggled to recover from a bad first lap – closed the gap on Massa until lap 11 when they both dove into the pits. The collision occurred on their out lap – leaving Hamilton with no front wing and puncturing Massa’s tire. Hamilton was also given a drive-through penalty for the incident. Massa was not penalized.

While Hamilton has not spoken to the press on the matter, Massa has been openly critical of Hamilton since the incident. “My thoughts are that, again, I told you yesterday that he cannot use his mind,” said Massa in a post-race interview. “He could have caused a big accident. He is paying for that, that’s the problem. He doesn’t understand, even paying for a problem.”

With five races to go in the 2011 season, Hamilton is fifth in championship points while Massa is in sixth – nearly 100 points behind the Brit.