Ferrari hits back at media after Massa-Alonso reports

Ferrari has hit back at reports that said Felipe Massa was unhappy with Fernando Alonso’s pit entry overtaking move in China.

In a website entry headlined ‘False polemics’, the Maranello based team said the Brazilian driver’s comments were “taken out of context” in an attempt by “some news outlets” to “create bad blood” between him and Alonso.

On Monday, we reported 28-year-old Massa’s comments to the Brazilian media when he said he ran onto the grass to let the charging Spaniard through in order to avoid “an accident”.

But the Ferrari report said the incident “won’t change anything at all regarding the relationship” between the pair, with Massa and Alonso “travelling back to Europe on the same flight”.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali suggested after the clash that Massa might be upset.

“I have to say that Fernando, he is a racer, and I have to say that Felipe behaved very, very well,” said the Italian.

“It is not easy, and I can understand what could be his (Massa’s) feeling, but this episode has not changed our philosophy and for me that is the most important thing,” added Domenicali.

The veteran Italian reporter Pino Allievi said Spaniard Alonso’s aggression could have been a turning point in his relationship with Massa.

“(It was) an abrupt way of reclaiming the team leadership with an unexpected and chilling manoeuvre,” he wrote in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Typical of someone who, behind the peaceful exterior, hides the killer instinct of a champion,” Allievi added.

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