Ferrari have confirmed they only received the FIA notification about a new tyre rule after the Japanese Grand Prix had already started. The race direction informed teams that they were forced to start the race with extreme weather tyres given the poor conditions at Fuji.
Ferrari, however, decided to start the race with the standard wet tyres and both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were forced to pit with the safety car on track if they didn't want to be excluded.
The pitstops sent both drivers to the back of the field, effectively ruining all their chances of fighting for victory.
The Italian squad said after the race that they had not been informed about the tyre rule until after the event had started.
"We did not receive email notification of the stewards decision until after the race had started. We have checked and on Stefano Domenicali's laptop it shows that he only received the message at 1.37pm," a Ferrari spokesperson said after the race.
"We then were told over the radio that we had to change the tyres, and that if we did not we would be black-flagged.
"There is nothing we can do now. There was a lack of communication, and that is why we took the decision to go with the standard wet tyre."
Raikkonen went on to finish in third place, while Massa finished down in sixth, meaning he is now mathematically out of contention for the title.
Felipe Massa says it is "unacceptable" that his Ferrari team were not informed in time that they were forced to start the Japanese Grand Prix with extreme weather tyres.
Both Massa and teammate Kimi Raikkonen had to pit at the start of the race, when the safety car was still on track, after choosing the intermediate tyre option without knowing the FIA had asked teams to put the extreme weather tyres on.
Ferrari said after the race that the e-mail informing them about the new rule arrived after the event had already started.
The Maranello squad's drivers had to pit in order to avoid being black-flagged, Ferrari said, dropping down to the bottom of the field.
Massa, who finished in sixth place, said it was unfair that his team were not informed in time.
"We together with the team decided. I went to the grid with heavy rain and Kimi went to the standard. And he said it was okay to start on the standard," Massa told reporters.
"Then the rain was stopping when we were on the grid, so we took the decision to start on the standard, which is intermediates for both cars. And especially for me, to win the championship was if some miracle happened. I prefer to risk and if it was fine then maybe I still had a chance to fight (for the title).
"But the biggest problem is that he was not permitted to start on intermediates and the Ferrari was not informed. So that was the biggest mistake we had. If you have the information that everyone has to start on the extreme and not to start on standards - we were not informed.
"It's unacceptable because every team has to be informed. We weren't and now we are investigating what happened and why it happened because this is not fair."
The Brazilian admitted, however, that Ferrari had made a mistake with their tyre choice, and reckons the intermediates were not the way to go.
"No, because when we went out it was raining heavy - so it was not possible," he said. "When we leave the grid it was possible, but then after it was raining heavy. I spun after two laps."
The Ferrari driver defended his team despite the error, and said even tactical mastermind Ross Brawn could have made that mistake.
"I had Brawn and we made mistakes in the past. In conditions like that it's difficult to make the right decisions, so it's not down to Brawn. We are a good team, we worked in the right direction, but it was difficult to find the right decision every time."
