Even now as Fernando Alonso’s teammate, Felipe Massa is not shy to denounce the result of the Singapore grand prix three years ago.
It was in that 2008 race that Ferrari’s Massa had a problem during a pitstop that was triggered by Nelson Piquet’s notoriously deliberate crash and resultant safety car. Piquet’s then Renault teammate was Spaniard Alonso, who duly won the race before the ‘crashgate’ scandal claimed the scalps of his bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.
But the saga also arguably claimed the scalp of Massa’s 2008 world championship, as the Brazilian ultimately went on to lose the title to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.
Massa has always been outspoken about ‘crashgate’, but his complaints have got quieter with time and with Alonso now a revered Ferrari driver.
But he was open about his feelings when speaking with Spanish reporters on Thursday.
“Yeah, what happened hurt me because when you lose the title by so small a margin you start looking back and one of the things that was an influence was Singapore,” said the 30-year-old.
“Everyone knows that result was manipulated by what happened. Singapore 2008 was false,” said Massa, according to AS newspaper, “but the result was real.
“Have I spoken to Fernando about it? He knows and I know how the world works.
“The past is the past,” Massa is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte. “I have answered 45 thousand times what I think about it.”
Alonso, who insists he counts Singapore 2008 as a real victory, confirmed to Spanish sports daily Marca that he and Massa have never talked about the controversy.
“Yes, in 2008 Felipe lost points here, but he also lost points in Hungary when his engine failed with three laps to go,” he said.
“When you lose a championship by one point you remember all those things. When I look back at last year I remember all the reasons why I lost the title as well,” added Alonso.
Source:GMM
