Felipe Massa says he has received a reply to the letters sent by his lawyers to the FIA and F1 about the outcome of the 2008 world championship.
Massa is convinced that he missed out on the world title in 2008 due to the crashgate scandal in which his compatriot Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately parked his F1 car in the wall in Singapore on behalf of his team Renault. That way it came to a safety car and that paved the way to victory for that other Renault driver, Fernando Alonso.
According to Massa, the race should have been canceled or the final result should have been made the lap before Piquet jr.’s crash, when Massa was leading. Because Bernie Ecclestone recently dropped in an interview that both F1 and the FIA were aware of foul play back in 2008, Massa also believes that action should have been taken by the FIA. Instead, they have waited until the final result of the championship has been determined and then nothing can be changed.
“There was a rule that said the trophy would be handed over in December, which always happens every year, and from then on, the following year, the result could not be changed,” Massa told ‘Globo Esporte’. “For me it was really a joke what they did to me.”
But the interview with Ecclestone is not the only reason, the late Charlie Whiting also told in a documentary about former FIA president Max Mosley that Nelson Piquet Sr. told him everything during the last race of that season. Ecclestone also says in his interview that he, Charlie Whiting and Max Mosley were aware of the case.
They have decided not to bring the matter to light because of their own choice, Massa continues. So it was a collaboration between F1 and the FIA not to open the case in 2008, which is unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Massa’s then team principal at Ferrari, Stefano Domenicali, has become Formula 1’s CEO and is confident that he and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem will take the matter to heart.
“Stefano is like a brother to me,” he said. “He is someone who has a lot of affection for me, and I for him, a very good relationship. Logically it is a situation from the past, from another F1. They were not the current owners of the F1.
“I think both the FOM and the FIA act in a very different way today and think about fairness and integrity. I think this is a very important point for them to properly analyze the situation, which was not done at the time.”
So it was Hamilton who came out on top in the end and became world champion in the last race of the season. That last race of the season was the GP of Brazil, which Felipe Massa won and that naturally made it extra sour for the Brazilian.
I feel like the champion, no doubt, continues Massa. I think all Brazilians suffered in that last race. Without a doubt I feel champion and it would have been a great party here in Interlagos at that last race.
Massa says he has spoken to many people and most agree with him.
The manipulation of the race has been confirmed by the FIA. Everything that happened has been confirmed. We are not here to tell a story that no one knows yet, says Massa.
What happened is clear: the race was manipulated. And there was no change from a stolen race. Of course there is nothing more to talk about. We are here to show that in 2008 they knew and did nothing.”