Massa on crash-gate: 'I could see from Briatore's face that he was lying'

Felipe Massa is waging a major battle against Formula 1 and the FIA to review the outcome of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The Brazilian gathered a large group of lawyers and has been speaking frequently in the media about the race 15 years ago. Massa says he could not even imagine at first that something like crash-gate could happen and also tells when he started to get suspicious.

'Not too late to challenge crash-gate'

The then Ferrari driver is fighting to rectify the results of the 2008 Singapore GP. The case, which became known as crash-gate, was revived in early 2023 as a statement by former F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone revealed evidence that Nelson Piquet Jr's crash was indeed intentional. As a result, Fernando Alonso won the race and Massa, by his own admission, ended up losing the title.

Massa sees himself as the rightful 2008 F1 champion and spoke at length in the Track Limits podcast about his rationale for challenging the outcome of that year's championship. That it happened 15 years ago makes no difference, according to the Brazilian. Massa would have liked the information earlier but feels the mistake can still be made right.

Massa 'too nice' to recognise manipulation

Massa: "Everything was really strange [even then]. We just didn't have any proof that it was manipulated. I was a driver who always respected the rules, and I never thought [this could happen]. Maybe I was too nice. That's who I am. I never thought it was a massive manipulation. It's not part of the sport."

The Brazilian says he and his team saw no reason to challenge it at the time: "If we had started fighting straight away, everything would have been different." As the year went on, Massa got wind of the case and that Renault driver Piquet's crash was deliberate.

Is Briatore a bad liar?

Massa started the 2009 season after a particularly tough winter, in which he processed that he had lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by one point. Massa: "At the beginning of that season, many people started to talk a bit more about it. The proof wasn't there yet. I was in Bahrain; I met [Flavio] Briatore in a restaurant. I was with Nicholas Todt, and he was with Jean Alesi. We went to lunch together, and then I asked him if the crash was on purpose."

Massa continued: "From the way he answered, it was fake: 'No, we would never do that.' But I saw it in his face. I didn't believe it. Only after that, I thought maybe something was fishy." Massa also asked Piquet later in the season, and he got a similar answer from him, which made Massa's suspicions complete.