Massa injury prompted Renault race ban

(GMM) Martin Brundle on Monday made a link between the recent terrible incidents involving Henry Surtees and Felipe Massa, and FIA stewards' decision to ban Renault from the forthcoming European grand prix.

The French team's strong reprimand was issued after Fernando Alonso was released onto the circuit with a loose wheel nut, which subsequently led to the heavy wheel cover and then the entire wheel falling off the Spaniard's car.

Brundle, a former grand prix driver of the 80s and 90s and an award-winning commentator for British television since 1997, believes the penalty is a reaction to the Surtees and Massa crashes.

In both cases, the drivers' helmets were struck by flying debris with unpleasant results.

"The team almost certainly would not have been penalized for the same situation at the previous race," Brundle wrote in his latest column for the BBC.

"We have seen many cars lose a wheel without retribution," he added.

In 2007, the FIA threatened to pursue Brundle for libel, after suggesting in another column that the McLaren spy scandal was akin to a "witch hunt".