Felipe Massa fell just short of winning the 2008 championship. The driver had to acknowledge his superiority to Lewis Hamilton, which is still a problem for the Brazilian.
Massa thought he was world champion for a moment, but Hamilton took the victory after all. A few races before that, crashgate took place, where Renaults team boss Flavio Briatore thoughtfully let Nelson Piquet jr. crash. It resulted in a penalty a year later.
"It feels unfair because it's like the referee in football changing the result of the game. The result was not correct because of that fake safety car," Massa stated in conversation with The Telegraaf. "That's much more frustrating than that last race in Brazil. I think they should have deleted the result of that race one year after the event. Lance Armstrong also lost all his Tour de France victories, right? While they only found out years later that he was doping."
Massa thought of a lawyer
The Brazilian driver even wanted to take new steps. "I spoke to the Ferrari top at the time and wanted to bring in a lawyer, but they said there was nothing they could do. I think it did. But now I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm a very satisfied man and proud of what I've achieved."