Felipe Massa could start legal action to take 2008 F1 world driver’s title back from Lewis Hamilton

Felipe Massa is looking into legal options to challenge the controversial outcome of the 2008 Formula 1 world driver’s championship after bombshell comments from the sport’s former boss, Bernie Ecclestone.

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

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

Dubbed as ‘Crashgate’ the scandal saw Massa drop from first to 13th as Alonso won the race. It had pivotal implications as Massa eventually lost the championship by a point on the final day to Hamilton. 

In recent comments, Ecclestone has indicated the F1 top brass knew about the Renault conspiracy ‘during the 2008 season’, when there would have been time to overturn the final result, only angering Massa.

Felipe Massa (left) is looking into challenging the controversial outcome of the 2008 world driver’s championship after bombshell comments from former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone

The 2008 Singapore race is remembered for the ‘Crashgate’ affair, which saw Renault plan for Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash in order to bring out a safety car (pictured)

Piquet (left) deliberately crashed to help his team-mate Fernando Alonso own title ambitions

Massa is now claiming that the controversial finish to the race in Singapore cost him the 2008 title – and a legal challenge could be on the cards

When the bombshell claims were put to Massa, he said he will consider a legal challenge.

‘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,’ he said.

‘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.’

Massa acknowledges that he might not have much luck with 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 many things that, depending on the country, you cannot go back after 15 years to resolve a situation,’ he said.

‘But I intend to study the situation; study what the laws say, and the rules. We have to have an idea of what is possible to do.’

Ecclestone now says he wanted to protect F1 and save it from a huge scandal with ‘Crashgate’

Speaking to German website F1 Insider, Ecclestone recently reflected about ‘Crashgate’: ‘We decided not to do anything for now.

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

‘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.’

Now, new comments from Ecclestone indicate he knew about the Renault conspiracy ‘during the 2008 season’, when there would have been time to overturn the final result (Massa is pictured racing in Brazil in 2008)

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the 2008 title in dramatic fashion over Massa in Brazil

The ‘Crashgate’ affair happened in the 15th of 18 races that 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 put his car into the wall in order to bring out a safety car that would benefit team-mate Fernando Alonso.

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

Prior to the Singapore race, Hamilton was only leading Massa by a single point and afterwards walked away with a seven-point advantage.

Massa is now claiming that the race in Singapore cost him the 2008 title.

The following year the cheating scandal came to light when Piquet revealed he’d been told to crash deliberately by his team.