Suspension failure caused Felipe Massa's crash in Monaco GP

Massa was involved in two identical accidents over the course of the weekend which saw him lose control of his car towards the end of the start-finish straight

Ian Parkes
Tuesday 28 May 2013 12:46 BST
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Ferrari have confirmed Felipe Massa's heavy shunt during Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix was caused by suspension failure.

Massa was involved in two identical accidents over the course of the weekend which saw him lose control of his car towards the end of the start-finish straight.

On both occasions Massa hit a metal barrier to his left before sliding straight on and suffering a second impact at first-corner Ste Devote.

Driver error was accountable for the first accident during final practice, but an inspection of Massa's car has revealed the Brazilian was not at fault for the second.

"The findings validated the first impressions of the engineers, confirming the accident was caused by an element of the front-left suspension breaking," a Ferrari statement read.

Massa was taken to Monaco's Princesse Grace hospital as a precaution following his race-ending crash, but was soon released.

"The best news to come out of the Monaco weekend is that Felipe is fine," team principal Stefano Domenicali said.

"Two big accidents, just over 24 hours apart, and all he has to show for it is a bit of muscle pain. Fortunately there were no other injuries."

Instead, with Massa crashing out and team-mate Fernando Alonso only seventh, the greater damage was done to the team's title chances.

Ferrari have fallen 41 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship, while Alonso is 29 behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' standings after the reigning champion finished second behind Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

Domenicali says the 2013 season has provided "a real rollercoaster of emotions" so far and has called for greater consistency over the remaining races.

"Following on from a good weekend comes a bad one. That was the case in the first four races outside Europe and nothing has changed now we are back on the old continent," he said.

"We didn't get carried away when we won, nor did we beat ourselves up when things did not go as well as expected. But from now on it will be important to establish a consistent level of performance.

"The championship standings are very close and the number of strong opponents is ever increasing.

"It's a scenario in which each point is precious and each hundredth (of a second) of performance becomes important.

"We have all rolled our sleeves up and are focused on the tasks that lie ahead of us."

PA

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