Ferrari: “Smedley was caught in the heat of the action”

While statements from Rob Smedley, Felipe Massa’s race engineer, urging his driver to hold back Lewis Hamilton and ruin his race, have made headlines worldwide after being revealed in the video summary of the Singapore Grand Prix published on the official Formula One website, Ferrari is keen to defuse any controversy through the famous Horse Whisperer column.

The Scuderia seems to regret the choice of words used by Rob Smedley but denounces media frenzy: By reading certain newspapers, it seems that the Horse Whisperer is not the only one inspired by William Shakespeare in making a mountain out of a molehill about Rob Smedley’s comments during the Singapore Grand Prix. It’s true that Felipe Massa’s race engineer was caught in the heat of the moment and chose to use the verb “ruin” [editor’s note: “destroy” in English]. It might not be the most politically correct choice of words, but he had no malicious intent, especially when considering that Rob is a guy who was born and raised in Middlesbrough! It’s also true that this exhortation to Felipe came at turn 5 of the eleventh lap of the race, at the end of which Ferrari driver and Hamilton were to pit together. In other words, it had nothing to do with the collision between Felipe and Lewis that happened on the following lap. A misunderstanding could have easily been avoided, but that’s what happens in the frenetic world of Formula One.

It is, however, legitimate to question the FOM’s choice to exploit this radio communication in its summary while it evidently did not wish to broadcast them during the Grand Prix, even though it has, at will, the right to broadcast team radio communications.