“Felipe baby, stay cool!” Rob Smedley pacified Felipe Massa at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix
Rob Medley helped Felipe Massa stay calm during the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix.
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Felipe Massa
The 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix was held on 5th April, at the Sepang International Circuit. It was the second race of the year. Out of 56 laps, the drivers raced 31 laps. They had to stop because of the heavy rain. While there was chaos everywhere Felipe Massa was one among the drivers to panic over the team radio. Massa was driving for Ferrari back then.
Three different teams finished on the podium at the Malaysian Grand Prix 2009. Jenson Button for Brawn GP came first. He started from pole and was declared the winner. Nick Heidfeld for BMW Sauber came second and Timo Glock for Toyota came third. It was a race where the drivers had to stop due to the heavy rainfall.
In Formula One, the races need to complete at least 75 percent, for the drivers to be awarded with full points. However, that did not happen and the drivers were given half-points. It was the fifth time in the history of Formula One that it happened. It only makes sense the race was stopped as the drivers were complaining about the visibility.
Rob Smedley helped Felipe Massa stay cool during a heavy rain
Felipe Massa yelled into the radio requesting a new visor. As the Ferrari driver became anxious his team engineer Rob Smedley knew exactly what to say to calm the Brazilian down. Smedley pacified the driver saying, “Felipe baby, stay cool!” It was an incident that went viral. Though it wasn’t funny during the race as everyone was caught up in the thrill, it was one of the most entertaining moments in Formula One.
Fans labelled Rob Smedley a legend after that radio message. Formula One fans look back at that memory fondly. It was one of the races with heavy rain and the drivers collectively agreed to end the race. Before the race was officially called off, Fernando Alonso warned that there was no visibility and that there could be a serious accident if they restarted.
Lewis Hamilton was heard saying it was the most dangerous condition he had ever raced in. Jenson Button the Grand Prix winner felt that realistically it was the right thing to do and it all came down to the safety of the drivers. The post-race reactions among the drivers were the same as they all agreed that stopping the race was the best decision in that scenario.
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Gerard Crispin
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