Nelson Piquet Jr Slams ‘Amateur’ Felipe Massa

Venturi driver Felipe Massa has come under fire for blocking rivals during practice ahead of the Marrakesh ePrix.

The Brazilian is competing in only his second Formula E race, having joined the championship following a successful 15-year career in Formula 1.

After a nightmare start at the opening round in Saudi Arabia, where several penalties scuppered his chances of a points finish, Massa has been criticised for impeding fellow drivers during practice.

Panasonic Jaguar driver Piquet, the inaugural champion, was forced to take avoiding action during a hot lap in FP1, leading him to label his compatriot a “F****** ridiculous amateur” over team radio.

Piquet won the Formula E championship in the inaugural 2014/15 season and has competed in every race since the series’ inception.

The 37-year-old Felipe Massa also angered Nissan e.Dams driver Oliver Rowland in the second practice session when his attempt to move out of the way forced the Brit to swerve sharply.

Rowland expressed his anger over team radio, saying: “What is this Massa guy doing? Complete idiot!”

Massa will start the Marrakesh ePrix from 15th on the grid after a scrappy run in qualifying, with the veteran over half a second off the pace of pole sitter Sam Bird.

The Virgin Racing driver pulled out a blinding lap in the Super Pole shootout, despite running with a damaged car after a pitlane incident involving team-mate Robin Frijns and Tom Dillmann.

Bird was at the head of a queue of cars entering the pitlane following his initial qualifying run when he was stopped by a marshal for scrutineering.

Frijns lined up behind his team-mate but was pushed into Bird when NIO driver Dillmann failed to slow down in time, although the damage didn’t seem to have an effect on the Brit’s pole lap.

Defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne will start second for Techeetah ahead of BMW’s Antonio Felix da Costa and the Nissan of Sebastien Buemi.