Ex-Ferrari boss backs Massa in Lewis Hamilton saga and says ‘race was rigged’
Ex-Ferrari and FIA chief Jean Todt has backed Felipe Massa in his efforts to overturn the result of the 2008 Drivers' Championship, which the Brazilian lost to Lewis Hamilton.
In arguably one of sports biggest gut punches, the 2008 F1 Drivers' Championship went down to the final race of the campaign, with Brazil playing host to the showcase finale. Starting on pole, Massa went on to win the race, a result which he, his father and Ferrari, believed had won him the Drivers Championship.
But Hamilton, who a season prior missed out on the Drivers' Championship by a point to Kimi Raikkonen, managed to pass Timo Glock on his final lap, moving up to fifth place which was enough to secure him his first world title, a result which came as a hammer blow to Massa.
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However, Massa is now pursing legal action against the FIA because of what unfolded at the Singapore Grand Prix just over a month prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix. During that race, a crash on lap 14 from Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr led to a safety car, forcing Massa, then in first place, and everyone else, together.
As a result, Ferrari opted to bring Massa in for a pitstop – only to botch it by releasing the Brazilian with the fuel hose still in his car, which ended up costing him dearly as he dropped to last place, and finished outside of the points.
Should Felipe Massa simply just let it go at this point? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Conveniently for Renault, one driver to benefit massively from the safety car was Fernando Alonso, who was last prior to Piquet Jr's crash. The Spaniard went on to win the race. And Piquet Jr alleged it was Renault who told him to deliberately crash – which is what has led to Massa's legal challenge.
Ex-Ferrari general manager Todt has sympathy for his former driver's efforts and believes the race should have been cancelled. “I won’t get into the controversy, but it was very hard for him psychologically," Todt told Italian outlet La Stampa.
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"Maybe we could have been tougher when the story became known, but there is no doubt that the Singapore Grand Prix was rigged, and should have been cancelled."
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