0
Williams performance engineering chief Rob Smedley belives that Felipe Massa's crash in his final Brazilian Grand Prix allowed him to experience something more special that he would have if he finished the race.
The former Ferrari driver crashed out of his penultimate Grand Prix on lap 47, receiving a guard of honour from a number of teams as he walked back to the pits draped in the Brazilian Flag.
"To see all of that, just to see the amount of love for him was incredible," Smedley told Autosport. "Mercedes is a team he's never had anything to do with, or been near, and all their guys came out and showed him so much love."
"All the Ferrari guys came out because he's so loved down there, but it was still quite incredible," added Smedley, who was Massa's race engineer at Ferrari. "All his family were there and they all surrounded him. It was massively important they were there to support him and carry him through."
"He's done such a great job in Formula One, and such a great job for his country. We're all just really, really proud of him. You've got that weird juxtaposition of wanting him to have done well and finish on a real high.
"But then having seen what we did see, it was then even more special than him finishing in eighth or ninth position."
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
V. Bottas
M. Verstappen
107,177 comments on 
4 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Felipe Massa
437,274 comments on Ferrari 252 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Ferrari
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Portugal
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
France
Paul Ricard
Austria
Red Bull Ring
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Russian
Sochi Autodrom
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
Australia
Albert Park
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
Replies (0)
Login to reply