Brazilian driver Felipe Massa continues his legal fight over the events that cost him the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship, admitting that he struggled to handle the emotional impact of hearing Bernie Ecclestone’s comments about the situation. However, he insists that pursuing the case in court is necessary for the integrity of the sport and for the future of Formula 1.
Massa came extremely close to winning the 2008 F1 title but was denied the championship after Lewis Hamilton overtook Timo Glock’s Toyota in the closing laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix, allowing the McLaren driver to narrowly surpass Massa in one of the most dramatic finishes in Formula 1 history.
The situation was further complicated by the “Crashgate” scandal, when it was revealed that the Renault team orchestrated a plan to secure a victory for Fernando Alonso at the Singapore Grand Prix, a race in which Massa suffered a significant setback.
During the Marina Bay race, Nelsinho Piquet deliberately crashed his car under orders from Renault team principal Flavio Briatore, ensuring the safety car appeared at the ideal moment to benefit Fernando Alonso. Ferrari also made a crucial mistake with Massa’s pit stop during the race, allowing Hamilton to gain vital points in the championship battle.
The controversy resurfaced recently through Massa’s ongoing legal action, prompted by new revelations made in a 2023 interview with former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.
Speaking to F1-Insider, the British businessman criticized Hamilton, stating that he considers Michael Schumacher the only seven-time F1 world champion. This statement reignited debates about the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, leading Motorsport.com to obtain access to an interview given by then-FIA president Max Mosley to the 2021 documentary “Mosley: It’s Complicated.”
In the interview—of which no specific excerpt was widely published—Mosley admitted that he, Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting, and Bernie Ecclestone were already aware of the “Crashgate” plan before the final race of 2008 at Interlagos. Despite this knowledge, none of them, including Mosley, took action, fearing the negative impact it would have on Formula 1’s reputation. The full extent of the scandal only emerged during the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, thanks to journalist Reginaldo Leme.
Recently, on the GE program “Na Ponta dos Dedos,” Felipe Massa provided an update on the 2008 case.
“Logically, there is a very intense amount of work being done by the team of lawyers involved in this case. There will be four days of hearings in England at the end of October. A tremendous amount of preparation goes into these proceedings,” Felipe Massa said.
“It is very important to explain to the judge in detail everything that happened surrounding the saddest situation in the sport, which had nothing to do with fair competition, related to ‘Crashgate’ and all the events that followed.”
“It was a conspiracy that is completely unacceptable in motorsport, and unfortunately both I and our country, Brazil, suffered the consequences. Therefore, we have teams of lawyers working in multiple countries. I could never have imagined going through all of this; it is extremely difficult, but justice must be pursued, and we must fight to achieve it.”
“We are facing a very intense battle, but I believe that in the end, justice must be served correctly for the sake of the sport. Not only for me personally, but also as an example for the future, so that people understand it is possible to fight for what is right and fair.”
“I felt very bad when the situation came to light because we saw the owner of the sport acknowledge that there was indeed a situation where he did not consider Hamilton a seven-time champion, that the title was actually mine, and that the Singapore Grand Prix should have been canceled, yet nothing was done to avoid tarnishing Formula 1’s image.”
“This reveals the extent of the conspiracy to deliberately prevent any action from being taken. There were multiple absurd situations surrounding the entire affair. We discovered that even Nelson Piquet himself told Charlie Whiting at Interlagos in 2008, during my title fight, about what had happened.”
“Charlie relayed it to Max, Bernie definitely knew about it at the time, and no action was taken, which in itself is a conspiracy, completely unacceptable.”
“There were other situations as well. Nelson Piquet took legal action over what had happened because they dismissed both him and his son. Obviously, Nelsinho did not crash intentionally to deny me the championship, but acted thinking about himself and his contract. Unfortunately, as a result of this, a Brazilian lost a world title.”
“Nelson is a three-time world champion. He understands what it means for him personally and for his country to win a world championship and to contribute to motorsport development in Brazil. Yet they disappeared from the scene and did not even consider being part of it, not even thinking about me.”
“If I were in a situation like his, having abandoned everything because of what happened, I would embrace him and join the fight of another driver from the same country who went through such a sad and unacceptable situation, due to an incident that had nothing to do with fair competition.”
“We experienced the most difficult period for F1 in Brazil. After 2011, the final year of Rubens Barrichello, practically the only Brazilian driver left in competition was me, with only brief appearances from Bruno Senna and Felipe Nasr. It was the hardest period until Gabriel Bortoleto arrived. This demonstrates how much a championship title represents and how motorsport development depends on results.”
“When Senna was winning, in every category across Europe or the United States, there was always a Brazilian driver on top.”
