The Brazilian fans were treated with points by their national hero, Felipe Massa. Celebration was short lived, as a post-race decision from the race stewards would have fans in tears.
Massa started from eighth on the grid and drove the car well enough to arrive at the finish line in that position. That position is worth four championship points, but none were awarded to Massa. After a discussion between the race stewards and Williams team managers, it was determined that car number 19 would be excluded from the race results.
According to the race stewards, pre-race tyre pressure and temperature readings indicated that the right-rear tyre of Massa’s car was 137°C. This is a violation of the maximum temperature permitted by Pirelli, which is 110°C. Although the corresponding tyre pressure was within the permitted range, the tyre temperature was 27°C over the maximum.
Earlier in the season, the procedures of the pre-race tyre pressure measurements were improved, after the Mercedes cars were found to have tyre pressures below the minimum required at the Italian Grand Prix in September. Mercedes were cleared from their infraction after a lengthy post-race hearing with the stewards. Williams was not as fortunate.
With Massa now out of the race results, Romain Grosjean has been promoted to eighth position. Max Verstappen has bumped up to P9 and Pastor Maldonado has been added to the points, despite a five second time penalty for spinning Marcus Ericsson in turn one.
This loss of points means limits Massa’s chance of advancing positions in the World Drivers’ Championship table, losing valuable points to Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas. However, this doesn’t affect the World Constructors’ Championship, as the Williams team is out of reach of Red Bull. Nevertheless, Williams will be appealing the decision.
