As both drivers had to pit for new tires at the same time – the rain started pouring down heavily – Alonso was running behind his teammate in the race. Both were called in the pits at the same time and the Spaniard took the inside of the pit road entry to pass Massa and get first in the Ferrari box. Consequently, the Brazilian had to wait behind Alonso to change his tires and lost about 3 positions in the process.
Alonso's maneuver reportedly infuriated Ferrari's team principal Stefano Domenicali, who was seen throwing his hands in the air when watching the incident live. After the race, however, the Italian insisted that this was only a “racing incident” and suggested the relationship between the two drivers will not change in the future.
“As for the passing move Fernando made, I ended up on a puddle of water coming out of the hairpin and slightly lost control of the car: he managed to get inside me, passing me going into the pit lane. I lost some places because of it, as I had to wait for his stop to be finished,” said Massa after the race.
“Alonso put his car next to mine and, when I saw him, I knew that we could have an accident. So I thought about the team and it made me lose more than three places. Of course I'll talk to him,” added the Brazilian racer later on, when talking to Brazil's Globo.
The Spaniard, on the other hand, played down the incident.
“If he was not my teammate, there wouldn't be so much talk about it and for me it was a normal move and it definitely won't compromise our relationship,” said Alonso.
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