F1: Felipe Massa insists he was ‘wronged’ in the 2008 Singapore ‘Crashgate’ result

Felipe Massa insists he was ‘totally wronged’ at the controversial 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, following Bernie Ecclestone’s explosive confession to the result.

The former Ferrari star lost the title that year to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by a single point on the closing lap of the final race of the season, in one of the most thrilling finishes in the history of the F1.

However, Massa’s title hopes had already taken a huge hit in Singapore, when he later claimed that Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed his Renault into the wall in a bid to help his team-mate’s own championship ambitions. Fernando Alonso.

Dubbed ‘Crashgate’, the scandal saw Massa drop from first to 13th as Alonso won the race. This had crucial implications as Massa ultimately lost the championship by one point on the final day to Hamilton.

In comments made last month, Ecclestone said F1’s top brass were aware of Renault’s plot “during the 2008 season” when it would have been time to overturn the final result, which does not only irritated Massa.

And now the 42-year-old, who has announced he is considering taking legal action against the FIA, has reiterated his desire to move forward with what he considers a strong case.

“I consider myself very likely to have had this title”, he told esportelandia. “If you remember Singapore, it was a godsend. After Bernie Ecclestone spoke about it, we’re trying to figure out, legally, if there’s a chance of going back.

And the Brazilian hinted that Ecclestone’s admission proved ‘Crashgate’ had been fixed: ‘So it shows that I was totally wronged by what happened that year, in a stolen race’ , he added.

“It made me raise the antenna and go seek justice. I’m not a lawyer, but everyone knows I was clearly wronged and I think justice is part of our fight to make what happened right.

“It was a stolen race. It was manipulation, which is very serious. It’s not a failed engine. There was also an engine that broke, but that’s part of the game. They crashed Nelsinho Piquet because he wanted to help his teammate, last in the race, to win. They totally manipulated for a result.

Massa acknowledges he might not have much luck changing a result after almost 15 years, but he’s still interested in finding out what his chances are.

“There are rules, and there are a lot of things that depending on the country you can’t go back after 15 years to resolve a situation,” he said.

“But I intend to study the situation; study what the laws and rules say. We need to have an idea of ​​what is possible.

Speaking to the German F1 Insider website, Ecclestone recently discussed ‘Crashgate’: “We have decided not to do anything at this time.

“We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal.

“At the time, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA ​​prize-giving ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton received the trophy and everything was fine.

“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.

“That means it would never have happened for the championship standings. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.

The ‘Crashgate’ affair happened at the 15th of 18 races in the 2008 season – with that Singapore Grand Prix remaining one of the biggest cheating scandals in the sport’s recent history.

The Renault team planned for Piquet to deliberately ram his car into the wall in order to bring out a safety car which would benefit teammate Fernando Alonso.

Massa, who was leading the race at the time, pulled under the safety car but a problematic stop saw him finish in 13th place, with Alonso winning and Hamilton taking third.

Prior to the Singapore race, Hamilton led Massa by just one point and then came away with a seven-point advantage.

Massa now claims the race in Singapore cost him the 2008 title.

The following year, the cheating scandal erupted when Piquet revealed that his team had told him to deliberately crash.