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F1: Massa “Not Paying Attention,” Says Todt
Written by: Adam Cooper
RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
06/10/2007 - 07:00 PM
Montreal, Canada
 
Massa: running a red light. (LAT photo) » More Photos

Jean Todt says that it's too early to draw conclusions about Ferrari's championship chances, despite two defeats by McLaren in Monaco and Canada.

Todt pointed out that the major problem was traction in slow corners, a major handicap at both venues. The two races also both saw the use of Bridgestone's soft and super-soft tires.

"We feel we were able to compete against all the others except the winning team," said the Frenchman. "For the second race in a row we have been beaten by a team more competitive than our team.

"It's a big shame that we had to have one car excluded, but no complaint. You have a red light, if you don't stop in front of a red light, you get excluded. That's it. We have to analyze very carefully the situation. Let's hope that soon we are able to do a better job."

He admitted that the team did not realize that the pit exit red light was on and that Massa did not see it.

"He did not pay attention – he was concentrated on going out, and not having any car passing him. And we did not tell him anything. It's in the rule – if you have a procedure where you say be careful, you will have the red light, you don't have to see it. We did not say [anything] to him, and he did not pay attention."

"Definitely they (McLaren) did a good step forward. Maybe the specification of this circuit was more against our car. I think we will have a quick answer next week. I'm not saying next week we will be
in front, but at least it's a different kind of circuit. You have a lot of common points between Monte Carlo and Canada, so we will have a different idea and a different circuit in one week's time. Mainly we were missing traction in slow corners.

"In Monaco we were slower, and here we were slower by half a second. But, I mean, we hardly had a clear track in front, and we know that not having a clear track is a big disadvantage.

"I know we are preparing several developments. Will it be enough, not enough, I will say time will tell."

Todt said that he didn't feel that BMW Sauber's runner-up placing with Nick Heidfeld suggested that that team had leapfrogged Ferrari.

"It was a strange race because of the introduction of safety cars. It did not help our strategy. We had to stop our two cars earlier than planned, so we could not get advantage of it. That compromised significantly the race.

"Kimi slightly touched a car at the start, then he got some parts of the crashed car in the front wing, and definitely it damaged the performance of his car."



Catch up on the developments in Formula 1 each month in RACER. Steve Cooper gets the scoop on the decline of the Renault F1 team this season, and its efforts to turn the tide in our July issue, on sale now.