Felipe Massa’s heavy crash during FP1 for the Canadian Grand Prix was caused by a DRS problem, Williams has confirmed.
Early in the session, Massa lost control approaching Turn 1, causing him to take to the grass in the braking area. With the Williams pitched into a spin, Massa slid backwards into the tyre barrier and heavily damaged the rear of his car.
The Brazilian took to team radio after the crash to say: “I think I had a problem, I closed the DRS and lost the rear completely”.
Williams has now confirmed the incident was caused by a problem with Massa’s DRS, which did not close fully under braking for Turn 1.
#FP1 DRS didn’t fully close causing @MassaFelipe19 to lose the rear wing under braking. Team investigating and working to fix car for #FP2
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) June 10, 2016
Massa’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas had no such problems during the opening session and was able to complete the most mileage of any driver as Williams attempted to compensate for the lost data in FP1.
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