Felipe Massa has called on the FIA to come down hard on Kamui Kobayashi for causing his first corner exit in Formula 1’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Kobayashi locked up under braking for Turn 1 in Melbourne and slid into the back of Massa, ending both the Caterham and Williams’s races on the spot.
Massa, who had come into the weekend as a contender for a podium finish, was furious at what he had seen. He reckoned that what Kobayashi did was as bad as what Romain Grosjean did in Belgium in 2012 when he caused a first corner pile-up and was banned for a race.
“Somebody hit me massively, and it was really a shame as everything was under control for the start,” said Massa. “I was really careful going to the line very safely, but every time Kamui is trying to do a start like that he will do the same.
“You cannot brake at 50 meters on a start like that. I don’t see a difference between what happened to his start and what happened to Grosjean when he did a crazy start at Spa.”
When asked what he felt an appropriate penalty would be, Massa said: “I hope they give a hard penalty, because you cannot do that.”
Both Kobayashi and Massa have been called to see the FIA stewards after the race for the accident to be investigated.
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