Massa: Car felt undriveable after first lap contact

Felipe Massa says his Williams “felt undriveable” following first lap contact which eventually forced his retirement from the German Grand Prix.

Jolyon Palmer ran into the back of Massa at the Turn 6 hairpin on the first lap of the race, damaging the Renault’s front wing. Williams couldn’t see any problem with Massa’s car on the data, but the Brazilian slipped back through the field as he struggled with the car’s handling.

A precautionary pit stop allowed Williams to inspect the car and take photos before sending Massa back out on track, but with the problem unclear the team decided to retire in order to properly investigate the issue.

Massa says it reached the point where it was not worth attempting to continue, such was the extent of his struggles with the handling.

“It’s such a shame that someone hit my rear right tyre on the first lap because it felt like something definitely happened to that area of the car,” Massa said. “Perhaps a toe issue or something, because the car felt undriveable. Although I tried to carry on with the race, I was suffering massively.

“The pace was just so slow to the point where it was better to retire than carry on. Now, I’m going to take the summer break as an opportunity to relax with my family and prepare for the second half of the season to make it much better than the first half.”

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