Felipe Massa insists he was ‘totally wronged’ at the controversial 2008 Singapore Grand Prix after Bernie Ecclestone’s stellar admissions about the result.
The former Ferrari star lost that year’s title to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just one point on the final lap of the season’s final race, in one of the most thrilling finishes in F1 history.
However, Massa’s title hopes had already taken a huge blow in Singapore, when it was later alleged that Nelson Piquet deliberately drove his Renault into the wall in an attempt to aid teammate Fernando Alonso’s own championship ambitions.
Dubbed ‘Crashgate’, the scandal saw Massa drop from first to 13th as Alonso won the race. It had crucial implications, as Massa eventually lost the championship to Hamilton by a point on the final day.
In comments last month, Ecclestone indicated that F1’s top management knew about the Renault conspiracy “during the 2008 season” when there would have been time to reverse the final result, which only angered Massa.
Felipe Massa (left) is trying to challenge the controversial outcome of the 2008 World Drivers’ Championship after bombshell comments from former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone
The 2008 Singapore race is remembered for the ‘Crashgate’ affair, where Renault allegedly planned to deliberately crash Nelson Piquet to release a safety car (pictured)
Piquet (left) allegedly crashed deliberately to help his teammate Fernando Alonso’s own title ambitions
And now the 42-year-old, who announced he was considering taking legal action against the FIA, has reiterated his desire to continue with what he says is a strong case.
“I consider myself with great chances to have had that title,” he told esportelandia. “If you remember Singapore, it was a bargain. After Bernie Ecclestone talked about it, we’re trying to understand legally if there’s any chance of going back.’
And the Brazilian implied Ecclestone’s admission proved ‘Crashgate’ had been resolved: “So it just goes to show that I was totally wronged by what happened that year, in a stolen race,” he added.
“This caused me to lift the antenna and go after justice. I’m not a lawyer, but everyone knows I was clearly wronged and I think justice is part of our fight to get what happened right.
“That was a stolen flight. It was manipulation, which is a very serious matter. It wasn’t an engine that broke down. There was also an engine that broke down, but that’s part of the game. They crashed Nelsinho Piquet because he wanted to help his teammate, who was last in the race, to win. They totally manipulated for a result.’
Massa acknowledges he may not have much luck changing a result after nearly 15 years, but he is still interested in finding out what his chances are.
“There are rules and there are a lot of things that, depending on the country, you can’t reverse after 15 years to fix a situation,” he said.
Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone claimed the FIA did not act on the alleged cheating
Ecclestone suggested he knew about the suspected Renault collusion ‘during the 2008 season’, when there would have been time to reverse the result (Massa is pictured at a race in Brazil in 2008)
‘But I intend to study the situation; study what the laws say, and the rules. We need to have an idea of what’s possible.’
Ecclestone recently spoke about ‘Crashgate’ to the German website F1 Insider: ‘We have decided not to do anything for the time being.
“We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal.
“At the time, there was a rule that a World Cup standings after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton got the trophy and everything was fine.
“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have canceled the race in Singapore under these circumstances.
That means it would never have happened before the championship. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.’
The ‘Crashgate’ affair came in the 15th of that 2008 season’s 18 races – and that Singapore Grand Prix remained one of the biggest fraud scandals in the sport’s recent history.
The Renault team had planned for Piquet to deliberately put his car against the wall to bring out a safety car for teammate Fernando Alonso to take advantage of.
Lewis Hamilton (right) and Massa (left) were the main challengers for the 2008 championship
Lewis Hamilton celebrates after dramatically winning the title from Massa in Brazil in 2008
Massa, who was leading the race at the time, pitted under the safety car, but a problematic stop eventually saw him back to 13th, with Alonso winning and Hamilton third.
Ahead of the Singapore race, Hamilton led Massa by just one point and then walked away with a seven-point lead.
Massa now claims the Singapore race cost him the 2008 title.
The following year, the cheating scandal came to light when Piquet revealed that his team had instructed him to crash on purpose.