Massa: Something is touching the tyre

As Williams’ investigation into his tyre failures continues, Felipe Massa says he believes it is an issue with the bodywork as “something is touching the tyre”.

The Brazilian suffered not one but two tyre failures during Friday’s opening practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Putting in the laps 20 minutes into the session, he spun off at Turn 6 when his rear left deflated. He ventured out again later in the session only to suffer yet another flat tyre through Turn 6.

Minutes later Kevin Magnussen added his name to the list as his rear left blew, spewing debris all over the straight.

Pirelli have already confirmed that it was not a puncture that led to Massa’s tyre issues while Williams’ investigation continues.

Massa reckons there is something rubbing against the tyre.

“We had two punctures,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Why? I don’t know. We are investigating.

“For sure, something is touching the tyre or the wheel or whatever.

“We had no idea why we had the first problem. We checked the car and it was ok. But then we had the same problem.”