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Massa Keeps Friendly Approach Towards Hamilton

Unlike title rival Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's Felipe Massa seems to have a different approach on the British driver when it comes to their little 'incident' during the Japanese Grand Prix at Mount Fuji. The Brazilian insisted that his relationship with Hamilton has not changed after the Sunday race and that he will continue to respect and admire the Brit no matter what he might think of him.

“We have a good relationship. I admire him as a driver and as a person, and I am sure he admires me as well. I am not trying to bring problems on the track onto the outside. I have no problem to say hello to him, and even discuss some stuff and have some fun. No problem. I will not change my approach”, explained Massa.

The Brazilian's statement comes only a day after Hamilton himself accused the Ferrari driver of deliberately trying to push him out of the race during his overtaking maneuver on Turn 10 of the second lap. When trying to pass Massa for 5th place, Hamilton was closed in by the Brazilian and his car was hit in the back forcing it into a spin. Massa's move was later penalized by the race stewards with a 10-second drive-through.

“He outbraked me so I didn't get past him on the way in. I did the corner normally and he came back very aggressively and hit me. I think that was pretty much as deliberate as can be”, argued a frustrated Hamilton at the post-race press conference.

Later on, McLaren's principal Ron Dennis also backed his driver's accusations towards Massa, pointing out that the TV images are more than obvious to sustaining his opinion.

The general atmosphere at Ferrari seems to be completely opposite these days, with team principal Stefano Domenicali insisting that “when you're racing, you try to do whatever you can. We try to respect each other. Of course you may have accidents, whenever you touch, whenever you even try to fight. This is something different from the relationship that you have team by team”.

Hamilton is currently leading the title race ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with Pole Robert Kubica in 3rd place. In the constructors' classification, Ferrari have taken a 7-point lead over main rivals McLaren, with BMW also in the title contention some 7 points further in the back.
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