Ex-Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa has revealed that he’s currently looking into whether there is any way he can legally challenge the outcome of the 2008 F1 season, the year that the Brazilian finished second behind Lewis Hamilton.
Massa has decided to look into the situation following recent comments made by former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who revealed that he knew “during the 2008 season” that the results from the Singapore Grand Prix should’ve been voided, following Crashgate.
At the Singapore GP that year, Nelson Piquet Jr purposefully crashed, which triggered a Safety Car.
As a result of the crash, Renault team-mate at the time Fernando Alonso claimed victory.
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Renault were banned from F1 for two years as a result of the incident.
Massa called for the results of the race to be cancelled at the time; however, the FIA deemed it as impossible with results not being allowed to change after the FIA awards ceremony.
However, after Ecclestone told the F1-Insider that he knew the Singapore GP should’ve been cancelled, Massa is bringing the topic up again.
“We decided not to do anything for now,” Ecclestone said.
“We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal. That’s why I used angelic tongues to persuade my former driver Nelson Piquet to keep calm for the time being.
“Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton was presented with the trophy and everything was fine.
“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions.
“That means it would never have happened for the championship standings. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.”
Following Ecclestone’s comments, Massa is trying to figure out if there is any new ways in which he can take legal action, given that he would’ve been the 2008 World Champion.
“There is a rule that says that when a championship is decided, from the moment the driver receives the champion’s trophy, things can no longer be changed, even if it has been proven a theft,” Massa told Motorsport.com.
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“At the time, Ferrari’s lawyers told me about this rule. We went to other lawyers and the answer was that nothing could be done. So I logically believed in this situation.
“But after 15 years, we hear that the [former] owner of the category says that he found out in 2008, together with the president of the FIA, and they did nothing [so as] to not tarnish the name of F1.
“This is very sad, to know the result of this race was supposed to be cancelled and I would have a title. In the end, I was the one who lost the most with this result. So, we are going after it to understand all this.”