Ferrari have dismissed suggestions that there was any malicious intent in a radio instruction given to Felipe Massa in Singapore.
Italian team say 'destroy' order has been misunderstood
Ferrari have dismissed suggestions that there was any malicious intent in a radio instruction given to Felipe Massa during the Singapore Grand Prix.
It has emerged that Massa's race engineer Rob Smedley told the Brazilian to "destroy" Lewis Hamilton's race as the pair battled for position at the Marina Bay circuit.
Hamilton and Massa collided on lap 12, damaging the former's front wing and giving the latter a puncture.
Ferrari's 'Horse Whisperer' column confirms that the message was sent one lap before the collision but stated that it did not pre-empt or instruct the coming together that eventually took place.
"It's true that Felipe Massa's race engineer was caught up in the heat of the moment and chose to use the verb 'destroy' at some point," the column states.
No malice
"It might not have been the most politically correct choice of word, but it definitely carried no malicious intent, especially when you take into account that Rob is a Middlesbrough lad, born and bred!
"It is also true that this exhortation to Felipe came at the exit to Turn 5 on lap 11 of the race, at the end of which both the Ferrari man and Hamilton were due to come in to the pits together.
"In other words, it had nothing to do with the collision between Felipe and Lewis that happened on the following lap.
"It would not have taken much to avoid this misunderstanding, but that's what happens in the frenetic world of Formula One.
"When all is said done, as the Bard of Avon himself might have put it, it was all much ado about nothing."
