Ferrari icon Felipe Massa has insisted Lewis Hamilton has “nothing to do” with his battle to get the result of the 2008 season overturned. The Brazilian missed out on the title to Hamilton by one point, with former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone later admitting he had known that foul play had taken place at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Massa started the 2008 Singapore race from pole position and extended his lead in the early stages, but saw his afternoon turn sour when Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on lap 14.
The Ferrari man was penalised following a pit stop under safety car conditions after his team released him with the fuel hose still attached to his car.
Massa ultimately finished 13th and left the circuit without any points to his name, while Hamilton bagged six points after ending the day in third place.
Piquet Jr went on to allege that Renault had asked him to crash on purpose in order to improve the prospects of his team-mate Fernando Alonso, who rose from last place to race winner following the incident.
And in early 2023, Ecclestone suggested that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley were aware at the time that the crash had been deliberate but opted against taking action to protect the F1 brand and avoid a scandal.
If F1 chiefs did act at the time, they may have made the result of the race null and void, which would have given Massa the points swing he needed to win the title.
And earlier this year, Massa filed a lawsuit against Formula One, the FIA, and Ecclestone at London’s High Court.
The 43-year-old was quizzed about the lawsuit during an interview with Motorsport. After being asked if he had ever spoken to Hamilton about what happened that day, he simply replied: “No”.
And after being asked to clarify why that was, Massa shut down the interviewer as he explained: “To be honest, this is not a fight with Lewis. Lewis has nothing to do with this fight. The fight is about what happened in the race, which was not good for the sport. The battle is that this race must be cancelled. That’s the fight.”
Massa, who ended his F1 career without ever winning a title, added: “We’re already four or five months into this lawsuit and things are moving forward. We’re definitely fighting for justice because it wasn’t fair.
“Especially to hear after 15 years that they already knew in 2008 and decided to do nothing. That was too much for me. That’s why I’ve put together a group of professional lawyers. Of course, it’s not my area of expertise, but we have a big team fighting for justice and the right thing, and that’s what we do.”
