Suspension failure caused Massa accident

The two Ferrari cars that were in action yesterday in the Monaco Grand Prix got back to Maranello in the early hours of this morning. After an initial evaluation carried out on site last night based on telemetry data, today, the engineers looked at all the components of Felipe Massa’s car, especially those that sustained damage in the heavy impact when the car crashed on lap 29 of the race.

The findings validated the first impressions of the engineers, confirming that the accident was caused by an element of the front left suspension breaking. With all the required inspections completed to analyse what happened at the Monegasque circuit, the Car Assembly department can now start work in preparing the car for the Canadian Grand Prix. The cars will be flown off to Montreal this weekend for the much awaited race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, which looks like being a very important one in terms of the Scuderia’s championship aspirations.

“This championship seems to be a real rollercoaster of emotions,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “Following on from a good weekend comes a bad one. That was the case in the first four races outside Europe and nothing has changed now we are back on the Old Continent. I can confirm that we didn’t get carried away when we won, nor did we beat ourselves up when things did not go as well as expected. But from now on, it will be important to establish a consistent level of performance.

“The Championship standings are very close and the number of strong opponents is ever increasing,” added Domenicali. “It’s a scenario in which each point is precious and each hundredth of performance becomes important and obviously we are well aware that one less reliability problem can be vey significant in terms of how the championship pans out. We have a lot of work to do in the coming days to be as well prepared as possible for Montreal. We have all rolled our sleeves up and are focussed on the tasks that lie ahead of us.”

The latest information confirms the positive news that emerged last night regarding the condition of Felipe Massa. The Brazilian will need a few days rest, but he is already concentrating on preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix and his presence at that event has never been in doubt.

“The best news to come out of the Monaco weekend is that Felipe is fine,” concluded Domenicali. “Two big accidents, just over twenty fours apart and all he has to show for it is a bit of muscle pain. Fortunately there were no other injuries.”

As for Fernando Alonso, he has had a quiet Monday, but the Spaniard’s diary is, as usual, packed. Tomorrow, Fernando will be in Italy to take part in the “Partita del Cuore” football match which will take place at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, with Giancarlo Fisichella also playing.