Felipe Massa believes Lewis Hamilton is dealing with similar feelings to those he had after losing the Formula 1 title in 2008.
The former Ferrari driver dominated the season finale in Brazil and was world champion for about 30 seconds until Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the final corner on the final lap to claim the fifth place he needed to secure his maiden championship.
Fast forward 13 years and it was the Briton who led almost every lap in Abu Dhabi before FIA race director Michael Masi's controversial decision with lapped cars during a late Safety Car allowed Max Verstappen to pass the Mercedes driver for the win and the title.
Despite a gracious post-race interview and two events in the week afterwards, Hamilton has not been seen or heard from since publicly, with brother Nicholas claiming he is simply taking a break from the "very toxic" social media.
And Massa can relate better than most to the pain Lewis is likely still feeling.
“I can imagine how he feels,” he told the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com.
“Of course, it’s very similar to what I went through in 2008. I think this is what Hamilton is going through at the moment.”
Despite the controversy at Yas Marina, however, Massa believes Verstappen is certainly a worthy world champion.
“He has had a great year,” Felipe said of the Dutchman. “You can say what you like about it, but he (Verstappen) is the one with the most wins this season.
“On the last lap, he saw his chance and went for it. Not bad timing. He deserves the championship.”
