Massa excluded from Brazilian Grand Prix

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Felipe Massa was excluded from his home Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday after his Williams car was found to have an overheated rear tyre before the start. The former race winner had finished in eighth place at Interlagos. Checks on the grid before the start revealed that his right-rear tyre tread was 27 degrees celsius above the maximum temperature allowed by Pirelli. Massa's exclusion promoted Lotus's Romain Grosjean to eighth, with Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen moving up to ninth and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado taking the final point for Lotus. Williams said they would appeal against the penalty. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ian Chadband)