The incident, which also earned the Swede two penalty points on his licence, occurred during the Q1 phase of qualifying as Massa, on an in-lap, attempted to let Ericsson by at Mirabeau. The Caterham driver moved alongside the Brazilian’s car before losing control, taking both cars into the barriers.
Despite recording the tenth-best time in Q1, Massa was unable to return to the pits and was thus ruled out of Q2.
In a separate incident, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was handed a reprimand - his first of the season - for impeding Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado at Turn 19 during Q1.