Verstappen escaped injury, but earned a five-place grid penalty for the next race, for his part in a clash with Romain Grosjean that resulted in his car spearing into the barriers at Ste. Devote.

But despite the punishment and licence penalty points, Massa thinks the crash highlights the risks that Formula 1 has taken in allowing the Dutch youngster in to the sport.

"What happened was very dangerous," said Massa. "It shows that maybe experience counts in F1.

"And I think to teach this type of accident they need to control it better, because it was very dangerous.

"It was lucky that he was not hurt because he could have been very hurt with what happened."

He added: "To be honest, he was not in the position to overtake, he was not even near to go inside. He was behind, so to be honest, it was too much what happened."

When asked if a lunge like Verstappen tried was the only way he could get through on fresher tyres, Massa said: "But you need to try to overtake when it is possible, not when it is impossible. Especially on the track like this."

Wider implications

Massa believes that F1 chiefs should give some serious thought to the potential implications of Verstappen's involvements in crashes.

For, had there been more serious consequences, then F1 could have been exposed to questions about why Verstappen was given a super licence.

"I think it was very dangerous for him, to be honest, because he is 17," he said. "If he is hurt then everybody will talk about it.

"They will say, why give the licence to a guy who is 17 and he is doing that? But he is not hurt, and everybody is happy. They need to do things in a better way."