Team bosses hail feud-ending gesture

Martin Whitmarsh and Stefano Domenicali were perhaps the two happiest men in Brazil as they saw their drivers call an end to their feud…

Martin Whitmarsh and Stefano Domenicali were perhaps the two happiest men in the Interlagos paddock as they saw their drivers call an end to their feud.

After six incidents, several harshly spoken words and the infamous ‘slap’, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa called it quits on their fighting in the wake of the season-ending Brazilian GP.

Hamilton, who had looked to be on a collision course with Massa as the duo fought over fifth place before a gearbox issue put him out of the grand prix, went over to the Ferrari driver after the race and not only spoke with him but also gave him a hug.

It was, as Whitmarsh put it, “nice at the end of the year.”

He added: “Even in this race we had the magnetic attraction between Lewis and Felipe which has sometimes gone wrong, and for a few moments we thought it might just happen again.

“Even so, nice at the end of it in an impromptu way for Lewis to have a hug with Felipe.

“I think Felipe accepted it so hopefully that story will now end and we’ll move on to a great championship fight for next year.

“The fact is Lewis has been in a much stronger place this weekend, you can see it from his body language even after the disappointment of the gearbox failure.

“He’s kept himself in a robust and good frame of mind. We’ll have business as normal resumed next year and hopefully we’ll deliver a competitive car.”

As for Domenicali, he said: “I was very pleased to see Lewis hug Felipe.

“At the end of the day that is what it is all about. It was a good gesture and I am very happy that today this was pretty clear.”

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