In April, the entire ‘Gran Circo’ was speechless when Felipe Massa’s statement was released on ‘Motorsport.com’. The Brazilian pilot confirmed that he is considering taking legal action to demand that the 2008 title he achieved be handed back to him. hamilton for what happened to F1 Singapore GP of that year, held on September 28, 2008. The Ferrari driver may have won then world if no great scandal is found out in the end. The so-called ‘Crashgate’. Now, a few months later, things are moving forward and Felipe Massa’s lawyers sent a letter before the FIA and the F1 before any action. If they don’t respond, they proceed with making a complaint.
What is Felipe Massa complaining about and why is he demanding the title in 2008?
On Monday August 3, 2009, in the middle of the 2009 F1 campaign, Flavio Briatore announced that he no longer hopes for the team with Nelson Piquet Jr, who only achieved a best result of 10th place in 10 races during the year that. After the dismissal, Nelson Piquet criticized Renault for what happened in Singapore 2008. The Brazilian said that the French team asked him to crash in Singapore on purpose so that Alonso could win that Grand Prix.
The FIA assured him immunity if he told everything and let him continue racing in exchange for his confession. That released ‘Crashgate’. Renault denied everything, but the FIA investigated the case and found enough evidence pointing to the scandal. That ended in the ouster from F1 of then team principal, Flavio Briatore, and chief engineer, Pat Symonds. They also wanted to kick Renault out of the championship, but it didn’t take effect and in the end they fined him 5 million euros.
For his part, Fernando Alonso was not allowed, because the FIA, after its massive investigation, decided that the Spaniard did not participate in that plan and was not aware of it.
The FIA did not penalize either of the two Renault drivers (Piquet and Alonso), nor did the result of that Grand Prix be overturned. If that Grand Prix didn’t count towards the championship, Felipe Massa would have won the title. But for now, the result is
Ecclestone threw the rock and hid his hand
Massa’s complaints come after hearing some very harsh words from then F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. Felipe Massa himself confirmed that in 2008, after discussing what had happened with Ferrari’s lawyers, they chose not to take legal action because they believed that F1 regulations prevented the champion from being replaced by a championship once the title had been awarded. crown . But Ecclestone, in his remarks a few months ago, has made a complete change to that situation. He clarified that the FIA knew what happened to Piquet in 2008, before the end of the championship, and they decided not to do anything in order not to tarnish the name of the competition.
“We decided to do nothing. We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a big scandal. Back then, there was a rule that the rank of a world champion could not be touched after the FIA award ceremony at the end of the year. So Hamilton handed the cup and everything went well,” Ecclestone said.
“We had enough information at the time to investigate the matter. According to the laws, we should have canceled the race in Singapore under those conditions. That means there will be no impact on the championship standings. And Felipe Massa became the world champion and not Lewis Hamilton,” he added.
“Massa was cheated and didn’t get the title he deserved, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship,” he concluded. However, Ecclestone recently claimed to have no recollection. curious
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
