Perez penalised for last-lap crash with Massa as both released from hospital

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez was held responsible for his high-speed collision with Felipe Massa on the last lap of the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Force India driver was given a five-place grid penalty by the stewards, who judged he caused the collision by “changing his racing line” moments before the impact.

Both drivers were taken to hospital as a precaution following the crash and were later released, the FIA confirmed.

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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133 comments on “Perez penalised for last-lap crash with Massa as both released from hospital”

  1. Guillermo Deutsch
    8th June 2014, 23:02

    rubbish…

    1. @Guilhermo:

      It was the right call I think: vine dot co/v/MD0BgJYVeam

      1. Yeah, Massa clearly moved to the right in the braking zone …

        1. Having seen this video I think it’s a fair call:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUEbC1bf2sc

          1. Very strange, it’s as if they’d have moved towards each other.

            Incidentally, this is not the first time this year that Massa is onvolved in such a strange situation. Remember, he also seemed to swerve towards Alonso when the Spaniard moved towards him at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix.

          2. petebaldwin (@)
            8th June 2014, 23:48

            Really? That video clearly shows Perez went left and Massa went right. Both are at fault but it was an accident.

          3. The track curves right there, as does the racing line.

          4. I agree with Keith, it was a fair call.
            Sadly, the Massa bashers need something to talk about…

          5. I think you have missed a key thing in the video.
            Perez was going to try and overtake Vettel into that corner. Vettel braked early, Perez went left to make the undercut

          6. you know what’s funny about that video? you use it as a proof of Checo moving left then massa hitting him while he was trying to avoid him. But the funny thing is that the audio is from the Argentina/latin america fox broadcast, and even when they were seeing that, they said that was Massa’s fault… it’s quite clear that Carlos Slim pay a ton of money to them. All the broadcast was about Checo Perez, and even about Gutierrez! besides, Fernando Tornello, the one speaking, is such a Vettel biased.. if HAM wins, the ’14 F1 is rubbish, if Vettel wins, then is one of the most exciting races…

          7. Massa moves right, but only at the rate the road was curving to the right for turn 1. Perez moves right, despite the fact he wasn’t going to get back past Vettel, and simply swiped Massa who was faster, and already there.

            Perez’s fault.

          8. Massa moves right, but only at the rate the road was curving to the right for turn 1. Perez moves left*, despite the fact he wasn’t going to get back past Vettel, and simply swiped Massa who was faster, and already there.

            Perez’s fault.

          9. https://vine.co/v/MD0BgJYVeam Please just follow Masa’s car and see how he impacts Checo. Also Checo moves left. Just an accident.

          10. @dam00r I’m not buying that, Perez was nowhere near close enough to putting a move on Vettel. I think it was a racing incident, but of the two drivers it seemed to be Perez who made the bigger, and more unusual, change of direction prior to impact.

          11. Personally I though it was a racing incident, but yeah, if anyone should get the blame for this one its Perez suddenly stepping out that made them touch.

          12. Alex McFarlane
            9th June 2014, 10:38

            Looking at that clip, I’m inclined to think Massa was at fault. There was acres of space on the left side of the circuit to pass Perez, Massa may have had to compromise his line into turn 1 but would have had better traction out of turn 2. Seems to me that he overcooked it and that even if the contact had not occurred, Massa would have missed his breaking point. Easy to say when you’re not driving a Formula 1 car I know, but I can’t figure out what on earth Massa was doing there.

          13. I am a fan of neither driver. In actual fact I was pretty much hoping that they would fall over each other at some point in the final laps and give those places to others – as happened. I certainly didn’t want then to have an accident like that tho. – just to be clear.

            However, the more I see this particular angle, the more I feel that it was, at worst, a racing incident. Both drivers did unpredictable things coming into that corner. Both drivers were moving around coming into the braking zone. Massa’s movements are the ones that stick out more for me though.

            I also think it is this video that makes it very clear that Massa jinked as much, if not more than Perez – which is why I find it so strange that it is this specific video that is cited as the one showing Massa was not at fault.

            Other views make it hard to tell, and can make you see it either way.

          14. I don’t understand you with your “the road was curving” argument, the track was curving, so it is okay to turn into the other car? Perez moved to the left and Massa to the right, they should both have gone straight so racing incident.

            @keithcollantine Adrian Fernandez, the former manager of Perez, was one of the stewards who made the judgement. That doens’t seem “fair” at all.

            Just my opinion though …

          15. @keithcollantine I saw the video and I saw that in the past 30 years people have chosen that line there. It’s all relative in the end the one that should have taken caution is the driver behind. Racing accident or penalty for Massa that’s my view. I can only think that the stewards vision is impaired by Perez history and status.

        2. But Massa was moving onto the racing line when he pulled right, and Checo was moving offline to the left. Watch the Vine again and see where Vettel went and where the rubber was laid down….to the far right going into the corner. But Checo starts drifting left which was totally offline.
          https://vine.co/v/MD0BgJYVeam

          I think it should have been deemed a racing incident but Checo probably takes *more* blame than Massa here.

          1. Having seen both this videos many times and drawing lines longitudinal to the cars axis, it seems both were on converging vectors at the moment of impact, so it seems they were turning on each other a split second before impact, Perez seem to take the radius to approach the turn´s inner line and Massa may have tried to turn to the far right and come out at the right side of the Force India on the turn (outer line of the turn, similar to Vettel´s line), in any case it was too close for both to have control of their speed (differential, as one was accelerating and the other braking) to avoid contact. I still say, race incident. But that brings me back to Monaco last year, when Perez went thought the same motions with Kimi at the tunnel chicane, in the other position, as attacker and kimi defending. there might be another criteria for the decision here.

          2. @fvi The thing is Massa was allowed to move, Perez wasn’t.

          3. Dave, there is no valid racing line in formula-1 it is not like there is a racing line approved by FIA or else. Driver may choose any racing line he wants.

            Massa should have stayed farther left. But he turned into Perez.
            https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/s261x260/10455176_10151853490024229_5531012271270930037_n.jpg

        3. @paeschli

          As they all do, since it’s a right hand turn. Perez, however, moved left. In the braking zone. A big no-no in F1.

          1. Paul (@frankjaeger)
            9th June 2014, 0:57

            @baron-2 @daved Not if you plan to overtake the guy in front of you. He should have been more aware of the car behind him but there’s only so much you can do in a F1 car at a time. Racing incident.

          2. @frankjaeger

            How was Perez going to take Vettel? He had to brake much earlier due to his brake problems.
            He should have moved left much earlier like he did with Ricciardo to force Massa to go around the outside. That would have given Perez a chance to defend and they wouldn’t have made contact at 300 kph.

      2. Guillermo Deutsch
        8th June 2014, 23:17

        it is a difficult one, but after watching all monaco incidents, you have to call this one a “Racing incident”, there is no pattern

        1. Guillermo Deutsch
          8th June 2014, 23:19

          sorry , there is a pattern “give Checo all penalties”

        2. I agree… even if it’s someones’ fault, it isn’t alwaywarranted a penalty. I’ve often been critical of Perez’ overly aggresive moves because sometimes he lacks some spatial awareness of some current drivers.
          But the drivers no such things as well, in the last seasons I don’t know how many overtakes I’ve seen between Kimi/Alonso/Button/Vettel etc. wheel to whell through chicanes and still everyone coming out alright, but often when it has been between Gro/Mal/Per the outcome has been more uncertain (Massa has also been quite shaky at times in these last years).

          Too long; did not read: Racing incident, probably more Perez’ fault but bot worthy of a penalty IMO

          1. But the drivers know such things as well*

      3. No! It wasnt his fault. If u see the onboard cameras u can se sergios stearing wheel always straight and massas stearing wheel slightly turning right

    2. Rubbish… this decision really sums up the F1 stewarding standards of today. You get hit from behind on it’s your fault…

    3. I agree unbelievable. Perez didn’t do anything that anyone hasn’t done there over 30 years. That braking zone is a difficult spot for overtaking and the fact that people have been very cautious there is the proof of that. Massa was over eager, Massa should have tried the overtake elsewhere. Massa cost Williams money time and hope. Force India lost a battle here and if I was FI I would appeal.

      1. @toxic
        If the stewards were consistent then Bianchi should have been pinged like perez :)

  2. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
    8th June 2014, 23:02

    But it was a racing incident?

    Sigh.

    1. It is clear from the onboards, and the stewards will have telemetry as well. I think Perez just defended too late – Massa was already committed and was on a line to try and make the corner, like Ricciardo, not going too wide on exit.

    2. Aren’t you happy with now had 3 consistently bad decisions? Consistency is key after all! 😄

    3. Mark (@marlarkey)
      8th June 2014, 23:22

      It is clear from the overhead and head-on videos that PER moved over onto MAS but PER moved over because of what was happening in front of him (VET running wide and slow in the corner ahead).

      So yes Perez CAUSED the crash but imo this was a genuine racing incident in that he was reacting to what was in front of him and so was MAS behind PER.

      The only factor to take into account is that Perez has form in causing many such incidents where he moves around on others.

    4. It looks like it at the beggining but Pérez did move ever so slightly to the left, I think he probably did it more instinctively than consciously, but the result is the same.
      By the way it was funny to see the Latin american commentators blaming Massa instantly even though there wasn’t a proper replay after several minutes later.

      1. about the commentators, spot on, mantresx, spot on (you should listen to them trashing hamilton at any chance they have)

    5. I agree, a racing incident. In this one both drove poorly, as Perez moved left, and Massa moved right and slammed into the back of him. There was a Vettel onboard which showed just how close Massa was to wiping Vettel out too!

  3. He was FOLLOWING his line!

    1. Not really, he did move a bit with Felipe right on his rear-wing. I think Perez was at fault for this one. Although Massa’s race craft should also be called into question.

    2. I agree with Sharma, @sankalp88, on this one totally. You can see in this vine that the racing line was to the right and Vettel and Massa were both going wide right for the racing line to make the left turn. You can even see the racing line from the rubber marks is you watch Vettel and what line he’s on as he makes the turn. So why did Checo start moving left? It was a bad move.

      However, I also have to question Felipe’s race craft. He should have made the pass a few laps earlier on Vettel and not even been in this postion as he had newer tires, and more speed but he kept making strange attempts to undercut Vettel in the laps before on the hairpin coming into the straight. The Williams does NOT have the cornering ability of RBR so why would he keep doing that when it only cost him acceleration coming onto the straight where he could have easily passed Vettel with his top end speed?
      Then he didn’t exactly make a great work of judging his closing speed with Checo when it happened. yes, Checo changed lines at a very bad time. But Felipe is not totally blameless either.

      But if they have to assign guilt, I think they got it right. But perhaps it should have been considered a racing incident as both drivers were a bit clumsy???

        1. I have watched it over and over, trying to see it how the stewards saw it, but I just can’t do it. I have no idea why Perez was drifting wide to the left but it wasn’t a sudden move. That comes from Massa who was already left and then makes a dart to the right, as if he were actually aiming at Perez’s left rear tyre. It’s the weirdest move I’ve ever seen in F1 and looks deliberate (although that can’t be, surely). If Perez is the guilty party, someone please explain that jink to the right on the part of Massa…

          1. I also was surprised seeing that sudden change in direction to the right, as if his steering wheel came loose or something (Theory?). It was more profound than Perez’s jinx to the left, so I think the stewards should have reconsidered their decision.

          2. Well, as per the vine, Perez first moves to the right and then comes back, which the stewards might have seen as the causing factor of the accident, it was somewhat of a weave…and going right is the normal racing line, seeing Vettel’s line and the tire marks as indication, so when Perez moves first over, Massa follows him and fails to react to the dart back to the right from Perez. I think it is Perez’s fault, right decision taken by the stewards!

        2. It’s hard to believe Perez got a penalty for that. He moved slightly left like many occassions where a driver is attacking the car in front and defending from a car behind. It wasn’t all that sudden either.

          It looks more like Felipe’s fault… I don’t understand why he would steer to the right so suddenly. Even though there was a turn coming up, it looked like he had made up his mind to overtake Perez, which is all the more reason to stay on the inside line as opposed to steering left.

          Honestly, this should go down as a racing incident. And if anyone was to be blamed, it should be Felipe Massa.

          1. *as opposed to steering right

  4. I tend to agree with the stewards on this one. Watch it again, as I felt at the time, Perez changes his line as they brake for turn one.

    1. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
      8th June 2014, 23:11

      Here’s a webm of the incident: http://a.pomf.se/szjwyc.webm

      If you watch and concentrate on Perez, he does move slightly just before the contact.

      But, if you watch and concentrate on Massa, he moves slightly right just before the contact too.

      I think this is simply a racing incident.

      1. Paul (@frankjaeger)
        9th June 2014, 1:01

        @magnificent-geoffrey Much more insightful when seen in slow motion. Situation: Massa goes to secure position before the turn, Perez defends Massa or attacks Vettel on run up to turn. Yep, racing incident.

      2. Yeah Massa was trying to straighten up for the corner, basically taking the normal line but in the middle of the track, but wasn’t paying attention to Perez who was braking straight towards the apex.

      3. Good video.

        I can see why the stewards blamed Perez, because he does move off the racing line — the racing line, followed by Vettel, curves round to the right.

        But Massa blundered too. The car in front moves to the left… so he carries on steering to the right. Not exactly great racecraft.

  5. Chris Harrison
    8th June 2014, 23:06

    I thought it was more Perez’ fault, however, I would have called it a racing incident. It was clear on the replays that Perez straighten the car, rather than take the normal racing line of keeping to the right of the track at that point. However, given the age of his tyres, and the close racing, which would have taken a toll on all the drivers mentally, I would have put it down to a racing incident.

  6. Massa also turns right slightly if you look on the helicam. Racing incident in my opinion.

    1. to Mr. DaveF1: it was a right corner before breaking. It is logical that a racer turns the str.wheel to the right when the turn bends to the right, isn’t it?

      1. Corrado (@)
        8th June 2014, 23:27

        Yes, but Perez was in front, so he was “entitled” to chose the racing line he liked more than Massa. Also, there’re brakes mounted on these cars. Massa should have (tried to) used them in my opinion.

      2. Massa’s turning is a lot more extreme as he’s already navigated the kink perfectly before he makes contact with Perez. Also if you’re going to dispute my point I’d prefer you’d be less of a smartass.

      3. Yes, but you have to make sure there are no other objects in your path

    2. @davef1 – Saw that too, Massa moving slightly to the right at the same time Perez was moving to the left. Glad I’m not a steward deciding this incident, but I would put it almost 50-50, as you said, a racing incident.

      This after watching the incident many times from several different angles and initially thinking when it happened that it was all on Massa. Obviously, we don’t have access to telemetry that the stewards do. I’m just very glad the drivers are OK.

      After the race, Martin Brundle commented that the most surprising thing about this crash is that we don’t see more incidents like this. High speed, tight corners, close quarters, moves and reactions made in split seconds…

  7. I wish Perez had taken himself out earlier in the race. To be honest, I saw this coming…just much earlier. I half expected one of the drivers in the train following him to get frustrated and do somthing stupid….

    While a great race, Perez’s alternate stratagy left him holding up faster cars. It was only their straight line deficit that helf them back. There could have been a much better battle for the lead if the others had been able to get past earlier. It was not Perez’s fault nor the other drivers fault though…I just found it annoying…..

    1. It is called defending your position.
      Of course it is annoying if you are the one behind and have 10 laps to go before the end of the race to get to podium.
      That is called racing.

  8. At last he is punished. 5 place grid penalty is fair enough.
    Initially, as everyone else, I blamed Massa. But having watched some other shots and videos… Well, Perez is just rubbish racer.
    He has only one real skill – saving tyres. But Button doesn’t make such stupid crushes.

    1. How did Button got involved in this? and why is a midfield car with a podium driver turned to rubbish in a very confusing incident? i bet the telemetry proving wrong doing is the only way to tell what really happened, I am not certain of anything given the images I got to see, and would not judge either driver from that. So I rest my case on the stewards decision with very firm and strong reserves for both drivers. If data becomes available great! if not, oh well.

      1. Button is good in saving tyres but he doesn’t make such crashes. Next time I will explain better)

        1. Button goofed even worse at same circuit in almost the same place in 2011, crushing Hammy against the wall!

  9. The stewards are privy to telemetry data and all the camera views so they obviously are able to put together a more complete scenario of how the accident transpired.

    It all happened so fast, it would be irresponsible for me to pass judgement from the comfort of my couch, even watching it in slow-mo on my 60″ LED Samsung.

  10. What? Both drivers moves before collision, but Perez has the line and Massa force the overtake… in the best case, it would be called a race incident, but penalised Perez is too harsh.

    1. What line had Perez? He moved to the right then to the left under braking when Massa was near him. If a racer doesn’t look into mirrors before making such a manoeuvre he is rubbish racer and that’s it. There was a link to the video of this accident re-watch it, please.
      PS: I don’t like Perez, but in race time I was yelling at Massa. Now I see that people don’t know what racing is and how you need to drive. This incident simply proved for me that the Mexican should be out of F1, like Maldonado.
      PSS: how may race incidents Perez should provoke so people start to see he can’t correctly assess the situation? Or everyone think that we will hail him until death only for 1 race in Malaysia 2012?

  11. This is so wrong in so many ways… of course he change the racing line – HE MAN WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE LEFT TURN 1…. Why is everybody not talking about Massa’s LACK OF TALENT ?

    1. jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
      8th June 2014, 23:25

      He moved to the left far too early, Massa obviously wasn’t expecting him to move so early and thus hit him. At first I thought it was Massa’s fault but looking at the high angle camera, Perez clearly moves into Massa and not Massa being too ambitious as I first thought.

    2. That was a hot mess of a sentence, but please tell me more of this fascinating universe you live in. From here forth, my name is Biologist, and yours is Subject.

    3. Lack of talent? He’s got plenty. More than you’ll ever have driving a race car so who are you to judge?

      1. Corrado (@)
        8th June 2014, 23:46

        It’s not about F1 drivers and fans, buddy !!!! It’s about ONLY comparing F1 drivers between them OR driver vs F1 !!!! If you ask me, Massa should think about retirement.

      2. “Lack of talent? He’s got plenty. More than you’ll ever have driving a race car so who are you to judge?”

        +1

    4. Corrado (@)
      8th June 2014, 23:33

      +1.

      Massa’s (lack of true) racecraft showed here. He should have realised he’s a lot faster than Perez (by the rate he caught all in front)… and be a lot more careful. Williams seems pretty competitive overall, I just think the team lacks better drivers.

      1. Massa was clearly expecting Perez to follow Vettel’s line and was setting up to be just inside him, either taking Perez on that corner or on the outside of turn two. He’d been behind the pair of them for a few laps so would have seen Perez’ normal line.
        I think he’s doing a better job at Williams than anyone else available to them would have.

        1. Here, here. It seems that the Massa-bashers are having field day after this incident. They never liked him. They ever will. Felipe was taking the normal line for the corner and Perez moved under braking. It is Perez’s fault.

  12. There was no need for Massa to be so close to Perez in the first place, but at that point the slight movement to the left proved crucial.

    1. No need? He was trying to overtake!

      If he was content to bring home 5th place and ten points however, then indeed there was no need to be so close.

      1. @fastiesty agreed, it was going to be his specialty: a shot to overtake both cars, one could feel it

        1. I’m guessing he would have been too far back for a stab at Vettel in the last chicane, but you never know….

    2. Felipe Massa???…
      .
      …Right Car, Wrong Pilot.
      .
      poor Perez, Sutil, Kobayashi, Ericsson, Bottas,…
      Who next ?

    3. So close? And how do you expect him to OVERTAKE another, slower driver?
      Jeez, is this what F1 is now, a driver blamed for being TO CLOSE to another when he is trying to overtake?
      Gosh!!!!!

  13. That decision confuses me. Perez had the line – covered the inside – and Massa moved to the right into Perez because he knew exactly that the inside was covered. I thought the rule says that a driver can defend and if both are off the racing line then the guy in front has first choice. But well, Stewards have a better access to data – however I wish they would add a more comprehensive explanation with such decisions.

    1. He was turning right because the track goes to the right. And yes, you can can defend your position, but you need to pick a line before breaking, and when the other car is not side by side with your car.

      1. yeah – I re-watched the situation in frame by frame and I was wrong – I thought Perez committed to the inside way earlier thru the right bender but he indeed did it very late giving Massa very little chance.

  14. I can’t believe they never showed the crash from Seb’s on-board. He must have seen Massa just flashing by, milimeters away from his car.

    1. @ironcito on the sky sports vision, they showed on board VET, but as you say, it was just a flash. He jinked to the right a bit as well

    2. There is a link to this video on the f1fanatic Twitter feed.

  15. Graham (@guitargraham)
    8th June 2014, 23:34

    i know Perez had braking issues and i know that the circuit funnels drivers together at this corner but i also know that the golden rule for drivers is not to alter your line in the braking area. we were very lucky everyone escaped with their lives

  16. Damon trolllolololololol
    8th June 2014, 23:38

    I thought you were allowed to make ONE move to defend

  17. rafael martins
    8th June 2014, 23:44

    Its all about racing lines. The rule of change the line once werent follwed by poor racer Perez. He was a moving chicane for all drivers. Without him, massa would hit top tree easily.

  18. Matt (@hamiltonfan1705)
    8th June 2014, 23:44

    Utterly absurd! Perez had to brake early as he had no brakes so what did Massa expect him to do? And Massa had plenty of time to react. If that was me on F1 2013 or rFactor I would’ve easily reacted in time. Massa 100% at fault in my opinion

    1. Ben (@scuderia29)
      8th June 2014, 23:47

      @hamiltonfan1705 lmaoooo because a game is exactly the same XD

    2. So turning left is part of braking? What could Massa do? Vanish from the track?

  19. Ben (@scuderia29)
    8th June 2014, 23:48

    it does seem like whenever theres an accident nowadays they have to dish out a penalty

    1. +1 (or whatever you’re supposed to type to agree!)
      It’s does seem like the Stewards feel the need to make someone the guilty party on even the most marginal calls. Frankly in this case I think Perez was entitled to defend, and Massa had no right to assume he would follow any line given that he was ahead but ignoring my own opinion there is a pretty big mix of feeling which tends to suggest there’s no absolute correct call to make.

    2. It was the drivers via the GPDA which asked for this a few years ago.

      The topic was initially brought up in 2007/2008 & drivers asked that the stewards be harsher if an accident was caused as a result of stupid driving.
      In late 2010 & the drivers asked Charlie Whiting to get the stewards to investigate any incident regardless of how small & to hand out penalty’s if one driver was clearly at fault, Especially if the incident resulted in the innocent party suffering damage or been forced to retire.

      That was actually the reason we saw more penalty’s for contact through 2011 & why more incidents get investigated now than in the past, Its what the drivers asked for.

  20. massa was driving into a disappearing gap. no way he would’ve got past there.

  21. missingxtension
    9th June 2014, 0:22

    Look at the footage on youtube and keep on clicking back to the impact second over and over. You can clearly mza bound to run into him, even if Prz would have held his line. All i see is mza going right, then right again after the impact. I was thinking it was prz fault too, but like i said. I saw the footage over and over and over….

  22. Maldonado s fault obiusly

  23. Massa is one unlucky chap

  24. This pretty much sums up Felipe Massa.

    He had was in the best position to win the race with 10 laps left, but he ended up crashing.

    Its no surprise he didnt beat Alonso over 4 years.

  25. Jason (@saint-jay)
    9th June 2014, 1:40

    Looked like a racing incident to me.

  26. I think the penalty was fair.

    Something worth considering is that for as long as I can remember drivers have always been warned not to change line suddenly in the braking zones, Especially when a car is right behind you.
    Drivers moving around in the braking zones is one of the biggest things you hear drivers complain about because the end result tends to end up with the sort of thing we saw today.

    I’d also point out that Perez was suffering from braking problems so suddenly changing line knowing he was having to brake earlier than the drivers behind may have been expecting was a stupid thing to do.

  27. Unfair

  28. I’m not sure if Perez changed his line intentionally to block Massa, or that he just opened up his steering at the right kink approaching turn one. I guess he simply misjudged Massa’s closing speed, and considering the fact that Massa was in Perez’s blind spot at the moment, we can say this could have been called a racing incident.
    However, I will say again, I’m not sure if Perez simply opened up the steering at the fast kink, or he deliberately plowed into Massa..

  29. This was so bad a news to read on a gloomy Monday morning for me. Perez was the driver of the day for me.

    While I saw the videos and don’t know why he moved left ever so slightly, and Massa moving right at the same time, made things worse. It was a heart break but I don’t think this penalty was delivered in the spirit of racing. Such a big shunt going without any penalties presumably would have made F1 rules look bad or stewards going against recommending safe racing.

    Both should have been delivered a penalty in such a case, just because it was a racing incident.

  30. On my point of view it’s very clear that Perez was the one to blame. Massa was turning right because it’s a right curve, both cars should turn right there because:
    1. Perez couldn’t move anymore, they were about to break and it’s not a nice thing to do.
    2. Massa was side by side with him, you can’t change you line to try to keep your position when there’s a car on the inside line.

    And I think it was a ordinary penalty for a very serious crash, just like when Maldonado flipped Gutierrez’s car

  31. Rubbish!!

    This was a Racing incident!

    A car with brake problems could slide to either side during braking; inboard camera from FI car shows straight wheel, while inboard Williams camera shows steering to the right (aiming towards FI car). I know they are on a kink / right turn, but one thing is to turn and another to drive your car towards the car in front / next to you (crash it). I can’t believe the decision by the stewards, I have lost respect to Derek Daly.

  32. This article and the ‘Did Rosberg deserve a penalty’ really showed for me that on this site there are plenty of F1 tourists rather than Fanatics. Such useless hatred and nonsense towards drivers. Asking for a penalty for Rosberg, what? Massa his fault, what? With this amount of footage and data for us to see, how can you write that?

  33. Both Perez and Chilton should get penalty points too, right? Or are penalty point reserved for rookies and Maldonado?

  34. Sometimes it’s no-one’s fault.

  35. caci99 (@)
    9th June 2014, 9:52

    My first reaction when I saw it, was: “Oh no Massa”. Then I was worried about his condition, good to hear he is ok.
    Now looking at the videos, I think it is a racing incident, no need for the penalty.

  36. For me it’s 70% Perez’s fault and 30% Massa’s fault however if there was a problem with the brakes on Perez’s car why would the team leave him out? To me the team also have some explaining to do.

    1. Checo Conscience
      10th June 2014, 3:38

      “Box Box Box Checo. Stefan isn’t sure it’s safe to stay out”
      “Yes, yes, Nico will get in trouble”

  37. Robert Simpson
    9th June 2014, 11:39

    I doubt anyone will agree, however it looked as though Perez was getting a little squirrely behind Vettel. Massa turned in right, despite having plenty of room to keep left and enough room to both make the pass and get round the corner. This is just a race accident, with Massa who was getting frustrated to be stuck behind Checo and Seb and Checo who was trying to defend his position whilst becoming slower as the end of the race progressed.

  38. Robert Simpson
    9th June 2014, 11:41

    I should also add that Checo had problems with his brakes at this period.

  39. I think it was more a case of Perez slowing down quicker than Massa could handle.

  40. For me this was a rather easy one. It’s a racing accident, caused by Perez’s slight swerve to the left. He probably was concentrating on Vettel and unaware of Massa’s charge. The penalty seems unnecessary.
    If one is certainly not to blame, it’s Massa. He takes avaoiding action (slams the brakes, steers to the left) just prior to the impact.

  41. American F1
    9th June 2014, 13:21

    Sorry, but IMO Checo did not deserve a penalty. Look here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0PuSoufowQ ) and watch the slo-mo. Massa clearly turns into Checo and sends them both off. Watch Checo’s steering wheel especially. That said, I would chalk this up to a racing incident with no penalties handed out. This was in the final stages of what had become a very exciting race and everyone smelled Mercedes blood in the water.

    1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
      9th June 2014, 14:35

      I agree. Checo did not turn into Massa. Video clearly shows he was driving straight, although not following the curve. His steering whell turns to the left, after Massa made contact with him. Massa did steer to the right.
      Rosberd also did not deserve a penalty. It was the right call from the stewards. Last warning was enough.

  42. This is rubbish, at most this should’ve been called a “race incident”, but the stewards hate Perez so it is easier to blame him, F1 politics hitting again, they suck bad…really feel bad for Perez, was doing a great race (owned his teammate AGAIN…). On the bright side both Massa and Perez were not injured!

  43. Correct me if I’m wrong but, it’s not allowed for a driver to change race line once to defend their position? Because Perez were defended his place and has not forced to give the position to Massa just because he were slower.

  44. After driven such a decent race I dont think Perez deserved this penalty. I looked at the replays. I personally felt it was a racing incident or maybe Massa was too desperate. But then The Stewards are the Wise men they know better.

    I must say this. Perez drove a brilliant first stint with the super softs for almost 30+ laps. Infact I would say that he has been much more impressive than Hulk in some of the races.

  45. Perez’s decision to move over on Massa was the latest in a string of incidents that have involved the Mexican edging towards or making contact with his rivals at high speed. He has gathered a reputation among his competitors for being unnecessarily and sometimes dangerously robust in both defence and attack. Perez’s over-excitement in the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix saw him make contact with then-McLaren teammate Jenson Button on two separate occasions, which led to the 2009 world champion calling for the team to reprimand the Mexican.Just two grands prix later in Monaco, the Mexican’s punchy overtaking attempts led to world champions Fernando Alonso and KimiRaikkonen ganging up on Perez, with the Finn being quoted as stating “someone should punch him in the face.” And in last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, Perez was given a drive-through penalty for needlessly forcing Romain Grosjean off track, below, whilst passing the Lotus driver into Les Combes. Jo Ramirez, formerly the manager of McLaren and an ex-advisor of Perez, was quoted as telling Mexican newspaper Cancha that the driver’s attitude had prevented him from fulfilling his potential

  46. Massa turns right, into a car in front of him which is slowing for a left hand turn, plows into him and Perez gets the penalty…
    I thought you were still allowed to defend a position in F1. Guess Perez was supposed to bow and step aside for Massa to charge through like it was his track.
    Fresher rubber doesn’t give you some waiver to charge through the middle of corners while compelling anyone in front of you to concede their position how you deem fit.
    Massa tried to force a move he shouldn’t have, frustrated at not passing Vettel lap after lap while screwing up his best chance when Vettel ran wide at the hairpin.

  47. Ian Leapingwell
    12th June 2014, 17:00

    Elsewhere we see Patrick Head quite rightly saying that Smedley’s comments on the incident were “A bit over the top”
    Patrick’s thoughts on any given subject are always worth listening to, he being of the old school racing fraternity. He knows what he is talking about which is more than can be said for some here. Perez was probably hoping to out brake Vettel into the left hander and only meters away from turning left for the apex. He was on the racing line and racing for position, so jinks left slightly, under braking and getting ready for the turn. Massa arrives at huge speed compared to Perez and Vettel, hoping to barge his way through. He had plenty of room to his left but decided to jink right, leaving no room at all for Perez. Where did he think Perez was supposed to go? Did he think at all? Typical Massa brain fade. Both drivers were lucky to walk away and Vettel was extremely fortunate not to get Tboned in the bargain.
    Lastly, Derek Daly, very nice fellow, I am sure, but the closest he ever came to a podium was when he passed it on his way to the toilets, so how is he qualified to be a race steward? There are a huge number of highly skilled ex-F1 pilots I can think of who would be more suitable for the task. At best, the crash was half Massa’s fault, at the very leas I think he was reckless. I hope Force India appeal in the strongest possible terms. The stewards got this completely wrong and I emailed Mr Whiting to say so.

  48. Very bad analisis about this accident caused for the irresponsibility of F. Massa he crash to Perez and had enough space for the left side. Very disappointed F1.

  49. Perez: note from the in-car view that Perez doesn’t lose ground on Vettel so even if the lines of perez and massa move slightly its massa that goes crashing into perez breaking way too late because he’s had a rush of blood to the head, because it’s the last lap. Perez would be perfectly entitled to go left to take a different line to attack Vettel. Massa simply goes in too quick. He has plenty of form on bad decision making over the years which is why he’ll never be a champion at F1. A classic Massa cock-up.

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