In August, Felipe Massa took legal action against the FIA and F1 to overturn the result of the controversial 2008 Singapore GP, the famous ‘Crashgate’ Grand Prix in which Nelsinho Piquet admitted crashing into the wall in order by Flavio Briatore so that his then teammate Fernando Alonso could win the race, something which according to subsequent investigations the Asturian was clearly unaware of.
The result of that Grand Prix was upheld despite the scandal and the points from that race counted towards the championship. Massa was the leader before the accident and after he came into the pits, with the bad luck that he left his pit with the fuel hose on (refueling was still being done). Without that race result, Massa would have won the title.
When the scandal appeared, Massa did not claim anything because he understood that too much time had passed. But when Bernie Ecclestone, then F1 boss, announced he was aware of what had happened and “we decided not to do anything to protect the sport”, Massa began his fight to be given the crown.
BEN SULAYEM SPEAKS
Now, the FOM and FIA are working to legally respond to Massa’s actions. And pending this, FIA president Ben Sulayem made a statement confirming that he had spoken to Felipe about the case.
“I responded by saying: ‘It’s up to you, do what you think is right for you, but the FIA has to protect itself. We have our rules, we have our sports rules and our statutes, which say that after a certain period you can’t (do anything)… but people can challenge that. “This is not God’s book.”Ben Sulayem told Reuters.
“I HAVE NOT TALKED TO BEN SULAYEM”
However, Felipe Massa denied that he talked about it with Ben Sulayem and rejected the FIA president.
“I was a little surprised, because we never had this conversation with him. We never talked about the case. In the end I didn’t talk to him. I sent him a message explaining the case and saying I was available to talk, but he never responded to me. We never had that conversation”said Felipe Massa in statements to ‘Motorsport.com’.
“I hope and believe that the FIA has to defend the sport. But it’s not about defending yourself, it’s about defending what’s fair and what’s right for the sport in general. “I think that’s the main point.”
“I hope that people today show that things are different, so I hope that the people in charge now, both in the FIA and in the FOM, will see that this kind of situation is not acceptable and that they cannot turn back.in this case. I really hope they clean it up,” argued Felipe who went from claiming the 2008 crown to ensuring that it would be fair to share it with Lewis Hamilton, the driver who finally took the scepter in a very tight finale in the 2008 Brazilian GP.
“I think what’s most important to us is that justice is done the right way. Right, the job (of lawyers), is to cancel that race. “I understand that 15 years have passed since then, but justice must be done the right way and that is why we will fight.”he commented.
“If justice is done, we think this is really the right thing to do (sharing the title with Hamilton), especially since it has happened in other sports., this is something to check. But we are going after justice and after the trophy, that is the main point.”
HE DIDN’T DISCUSS THIS WITH HAMILTON
“I haven’t spoken to Hamilton yet [sobre esto] and, in fact, I see that people are very afraid to comment on the case,” he said. “But, to be honest, I have a lot of support from a lot of people who can’t speak, and a lot of support from people on the street , from my country and from other countries.
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.
