Felipe Massa has launched a claim that we do not know how far it can go, but that will surely give a lot to talk about. The Brazilian claims the 2008 title won by Lewis Hamilton.
The point is that Massa is based on some words from Bernie Ecclestone about the famous crash gate of nelsinho piquet. The well-known accident orchestrated by Renault and that ended up giving victory to Fernando Alonso in it Singapore Grand Prix. For this controversial incident they punished the director of the French team, Flavio Briatoreand the engineer Pat Symonds.
“I can’t remember any of that”
Now the former head of F1 has entered a sudden amnesia. We don’t know if it’s temporary… or not. But the fact is that in statements to ReutersEcclestone has distanced himself from what he said to which Massa clings to file a lawsuit against the FIA and Liberty. “Honestly, I can’t remember any of that. I don’t remember giving the interview, that’s for sure.”the british tycoon has added.
What he says he didn’t say
What did the former patron of the Great Circus say? Well, in a statement to F1-Insider indicated: “If we had applied the regulations, we should have canceled that race in Singapore. That would have implied that Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton, as is what happened in the end.. I still feel sorry for Massa. He was cheated of the title he deserved, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship.. Today I would have arranged things differently.”
Felipe Massa.
And the former F1 boss also recognized that they decided “to do nothing at that time, we wanted to protect the sport and save it from a big scandal. At that time there was a rule that the results of the world championship could not be discussed after the FIA prize giving, therefore Hamilton received the title and everything was fine.
According to Bernie’s earlier account, both he and Max Mosley, at the time president of the FIA, knew what had happened, but decided to draw a thick veil on the thorny issue. But now that Massa has put himself in the hands of lawyers, it seems that Ecclestone denies that he said that.
We’ll see what happens, but many years have passed since crashgate and, initially, It seems complicated that they end up agreeing with a Massa who never won an F1 world title. Apart from that runner-up in 2008, the Brazilian was third in 2006 and fourth in 2007.
