Sir Jackie Stewart has hit out at what he perceives as the lenient penalty handed down to Valencia winner Felipe Massa after Sunday's European grand prix.

The Scot, a former triple world champion and team owner, and a regular media pundit, praised the Ferrari driver's performance on the streets of the Spanish port city but also believes the Brazilian committed a basic error in the pitlane.

During the 57-lap race, FIA stewards delayed imposing a penalty on leader Massa following his controversial 'unsafe' release by his Ferrari pit crew into the path of Force India's Adrian Sutil.

Subsequently, amid speculation that he may lose the win and ten points, stewards decided only to penalise the Ferrari team 10,000 euros.

"For me it was the key moment of the race," Stewart told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell.

"I don't know if it was the team or the driver who made the error. But, first of all, I can not understand why the stewards made their decision only after the race.

"They have all the information that is needed to make a judgement during the grand prix," Stewart believes.

He also observes that, "in the eyes of many", the stewards' verdict "underlines once again that in such cases Ferrari is treated with kid gloves."

Source: GMM