The forgotten F1 finale controversy that set a precedent Massa ignored
As the consequences of a ‘calculated unsporting act’ 15 years ago rumble on, MAURICE HAMILTON ponders the wisdom of trying to determine alternative race outcomes long after the fact…
Felipe Massa cranked the clock back 15 years when he came out of the Brazilian woodwork and claimed he had been robbed by the outcome of the 2008 world championship.
Massa wasn’t referring to having the cup dashed from his lips when Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the final corner of the season to finish fifth and snatch the title. His belated grievance has been directed at the Singapore GP a few weeks before when so-called ‘Crashgate’ – a deliberate crash by Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr – dramatically changed the outcome of the race. Massa’s Ferrari was leading at the time, but a Safety Car-inspired pitstop ended in a disaster that cost him a likely win. And, questionably, a championship which, Massa’s lawyers claim, would have earned their man millions.
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