Bernie Ecclestone shocked the racing world when he admitted that he was concerned of the 2008 ‘crashgate’ scandal long before it became public a year later.
Michael Schumacher remains the category’s only seven-time champion. That’s because he doesn’t count Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 championship, which the Briton won by a point.
Felipe Massa, meanwhile, finished second that time and even took first place in the last race at Interlagos.
Ecclestone’s explanation is provided by ‘crashgate,’ an incident that happened at the Singapore Grand Prix that season.
Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed into the wall on the 14th lap, forcing the safety car, which benefited his teammate, Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard went on to win the race for Renault and the case gained attention only the following year.
Massa, who was leading the race and decided to pit during the safety car period, was injured as a result of the crash.
An incident in the refueling of the 41-year-old Brazilian took him out of the lead and Massa ended the race in 13th, without a point.
“Max Mosley (former FIA President) and I were briefed during the 2008 season on what happened at the race in Singapore.” Ecclestone said.
“Piquet had told his father Nelson that he had been asked by the team to hit the wall at a certain point to trigger a safety car period to help his teammate Alonso.” Ecclestone added.
“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have canceled the race in Singapore under these conditions. Then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.” Ecclestone added.
When asked for his reaction to the sensational revelation, Massa said: “Bernie should have said it earlier, not now. But I’ve always said it – it was unacceptable.”
“I spoke about it at the time with Ferrari and with the team’s lawyers at Maranello and they told me that there was nothing they could do. There was no chance of winning.” he added.
