Massa: « Piquet stole the 2008 title from me »

A few days ago, Felipe Massa expressed his disappointment with Renault and Nelson Piquet’s behavior in the Crashgate affair of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The Brazilian, who is in rehabilitation, feels cheated: without this manipulation, he might have won the 2008 drivers’ title, which was decided by one point in favor of Lewis Hamilton.

The 2008 World Championship was one of the closest championships Formula 1 has ever seen. Massa and Hamilton contested the title until the last second, and it was ultimately Hamilton who won it by just one point in Brazil. According to Massa, if Piquet hadn’t deliberately crashed in Singapore, he could have won the Grand Prix and the 2008 championship: the Brazilian was leading before the crash of his fellow Renault driver.

« Everything that happened was stolen – but now that we know, nothing has changed. It’s not fair, » commented Felipe Massa on Brazilian television Globo. « The theft of this GP changed the fate of the championship and I lost (the title). »

According to the Brazilian, who had an accident during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying a few months ago, Formula 1 should occasionally take inspiration from football. Sometimes, it is essential to declare a draw or even cancel it: « I have seen in football when a match is fixed, all results are annulled. This happened with Juventus in Italy not so long ago. The club was relegated. Here, only Briatore was sent home. I didn’t get anything in return, and I don’t think it’s fair! »

Moreover, Massa criticizes Piquet’s unhealthy attitude, stating that it will be difficult for him to find a new Formula 1 team: « In general, it’s a deplorable attitude for a team to approach you and tell you to do this or that to renew your contract. A driver who is aware of such facts must report them quickly, especially if he knows he will be fired anyway. Nelson knew he was going to be fired, and even though it’s always good to admit mistakes, he waited until he left the team to expose the affair. He spoke the truth long after and only did so because he was fired. »

« He is now in a bad position in F1; You can be sure that if someone on a team says ‘Let’s try to hire him’, it might not be good. I don’t think I would hire him, no matter how hard I think about it, I don’t think I would be able to do it… »