FIA defends Massa’s Valencia penalty

A huge crowd was on hand again last weekend to see Felipe Massa destroy Lewis Hamilton for the 2nd consecutive race, but will his Ferrari engine's reliability prevent him from taking the crown?

(GMM) The FIA's Alan Donnelly has hit back at claims the stewards at Valencia made the wrong call following a controversial pitlane incident involving race winner Felipe Massa.

The three race stewards appointed for the Spanish event, overseen as usual by permanent supervisor Donnelly, decided to reprimand the Ferrari driver's release into the path of Adrian Sutil, but apply only a monetary penalty.

Former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart subsequently observed that, "in the eyes of many", the arguably lenient verdict "underlines once again that in such cases Ferrari is treated with kid gloves".

Stewart also told Britain's Daily Mail that F1 stewards are "part-time amateurs" who are not paid properly.

But Donnelly replied: "We watched the incident from every angle. I'm perfectly happy with the decision. Remember that Massa did not gain any sporting advantage."