McLaren issue Felipe Massa warning after Fernando Alonso mirror furore

Mexico City Grand Prix - McLaren

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McLaren issue Felipe Massa warning after Alonso mirror furore

Sam Hall & Ian Parkes

Sunday 30 October 2022 16:02

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McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has warned F1 not to forget "what happened to Felipe Massa" after Fernando Alonso's recent mirror incident at the United States Grand Prix.

Massa was struck on the helmet by a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, sustaining a life-threatening head injury.

Surgery led to a titanium plate being inserted into Massa's skull that allowed him to recover and return to racing the following season.

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Seidl's memory of this incident was rekindled when Fernando Alonso's mirror flew off his Alpine during last Sunday's race at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Spaniard had completed a number of laps with the mirror flapping after a heavy shunt with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

Although the 41-year-old was initially handed a 30-second penalty that demoted him out of the points from seventh due to his car being declared "unsafe", the decision was overturned in Mexico.

“My view is that, in general, when you have parts on the car which are at risk of flying off, the car should get called in because I haven’t forgotten - and I was live there as well - what happened to Felipe Massa in Hungary," said Seidl.

“We need to be aware that something like this can happen at any time when such a part is falling off a car.

“So I think that is our responsibility in those cases to call the car in."

On what must happen for the future, Seidl added: “I guess it is just important now, moving forward, that we have, without any emotions, good discussions between the teams and the FIA and just put into place clear guidelines of what we want in the interests of safety.

"Take it away from any current emotions that are around, opportunistic views of where everyone is in the championship or what has happened in the past and just find a good way to move forward.

“Safety always needs to come first. Don’t forget what happened to Felipe Massa.

"This can happen at any time if a part like this is falling off and I just think it would be the wrong thing to be aware that something is loose and can fall off and just accept that it could go.”