Felipe Massa said he felt he deserved to win the German Grand Prix, having let teammate Fernando Alonso take the lead after having led from the start. Massa finished in second position after giving up the lead when Ferrari told him on the radio that Alonso was quicker than him.
"Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?" Massa's race engineer Rob Smedley told the Brazilian on the radio.
Moments later, Massa slowed down and let Alonso through, the Spaniard having said earlier on the radio that "This is ridiculous" as he followed Massa closely but was unable to pass. A less-than-happy-looking Massa said he felt he deserved victory.
"Well, I think so," said Massa when asked if he felt he deserved the win. "The start was just fantastic and also the pace on the soft tires was really great and then I was struggling a little bit on the hard tyres but anyway a very good race for us."
When asked about Smedley's radio comment, Massa added: "Well, I don't think I need to say anything about that."
He added: "The only thing I feel is that we work for the team and doing a great job for the team and that is the most important thing."
Massa is currently 72 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, with Alonso now 34 behind the Briton.