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Felipe Massa warns of big backlash over F1 radio ban

Felipe Massa thinks that the FIA could face a big backlash from Formula 1 drivers if its hard-line approach to team radio instructions stays in force

The Williams driver has questioned the wisdom of the decision to ban teams giving help to drivers, and fears there could be safety implications.

Analysis: The impact of F1's team radio clampdown

Following a lengthy meeting between the teams and the FIA at Singapore on Thursday where a number of concerns about the ban were raised, it is possible some tweaks to what is and is not allowed may happen.

Massa thinks that if the FIA sticks with the way things are at the moment then F1 race director Charlie Whiting may find himself on the receiving end of complaints during the regular Friday night drivers' briefing.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he had spoken to Whiting to voice his concerns, Massa said: "No, but we will. If it stays like this, it will be a big fight tomorrow in the drivers' briefing..."

Massa believes that the instant introduction of the change was unnecessary and thinks that it would have been better to do something from the start of a season.

"For me it's a little bit funny that they change this type of thing in the moment. It's not the correct moment," he said.

"Maybe they changed it because they spoke to the old drivers too much.

"In some areas I think it's fine. If the team tells you not to use the tyres so much in corner five because you're using them too much compared to your team-mate, it's OK not to say that. This is not a problem.

"But you have so many things that we do in the car, that if you don't do maybe you put too much temperature in the rear brakes because the temperature gets too high, and then you just have a fire in the car. Maybe you could have a big accident.

"We have a very complicated power unit in the car that is not related to the driver.

"We saw situations like when Lewis [Hamilton] had fire in his car - you could have that many times if you're not using the right settings.

"That's not related to driving, that's related to the complicated settings."

DASHBOARD ISSUE

One issue that has emerged is that the swift imposition of the radio clampdown means teams that are running the smaller dashboard display could be put at a disadvantage, as it will be harder for their drivers to look at information.

Williams is one of the teams that runs the smaller steering wheel display, and any change to switch to the bigger one would take several week's work.

Massa is adamant that those outfits who have the bigger display will benefit from the way things are at the moment.

"The team that it will help will be Mercedes, the team that is already winning the championship..." he said.

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