AUTONEWS

Massa says he is the 2008 champion and criticizes “two-faced” Alonso: “He could have been honest”

Felipe Massa reiterated once again that he feels like the 2008 Formula 1 champion, and now he also opened up about Fernando Alonso's stance, criticizing the Spanish driver who benefited the most from the Singapore scandal

Felipe Massa spoke again about the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship. Since 2023, the Brazilian driver has sought to be recognized as the champion of that season after the then boss of the category, Bernie Ecclestone, admitted that he was aware of the manipulation of the Singapore GP, but that he decided not to intervene in the situation.

At the time, F1 was experiencing a match-fixing scandal in Marina Bay. Brazilian Nelsinho Piquet deliberately crashed his Renault in order to benefit his teammate Fernando Alonso, who won the race and had no connection with the title dispute. Massa was one of the biggest losers, since he started from pole position and was leading until Nelsinho's accident. In the end, Felipe lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by just 1 point.

In an interview with the Spanish media outlet Relevo, Massa said that he feels like the 2008 world champion and that he will fight until the end to ensure that manipulation never happens again in the sport. In that Singapore GP, Felipe suffered a disastrous pit stop, where he came out with the fuel hose before the end of the refueling. Penalized, he finished only 13th, without scoring any points.

“I can safely say that I won the 2008 World Championship. What happened was unacceptable for Formula 1, a terrible manipulation that has nothing to do with the sport. Yes, a driver who caused an accident that allowed his teammate to win the race. Everyone knew about it, they could have investigated, but they didn't. The political responsibility fell on the bosses at the time, but they didn't want to do anything. I will fight until the end to ensure that this never happens again. I was the main victim. I insist that this is not a sport,” he declared.

This time, Massa decided not to spare Fernando Alonso, who was the biggest beneficiary of Nelsinho’s intentional accident. The Spaniard, who had made a pit stop before the crash, went from 15th to first and won in Singapore. For Felipe, who was Fernando’s teammate between 2010 and 2013 at Ferrari, the Spaniard “could have been more honest” about the situation.

“An incredible driver, one of the greatest phenomena in history, without a doubt. But that doesn’t change what I think of him about the 2008 incident. Fernando didn’t behave well. He never talked about the subject, and it’s a shame because his greatness as a driver doesn’t match the way he acted. He said he didn’t know anything, he hid everything. That’s unacceptable, because we’re talking about a high-level sport, he’s an example for children and adults. He could have been more honest and told the truth,” he continued. Massa also mentioned the two occasions when Alonso lost the world title to Sebastian Vettel in the last race of the year, in 2010 and 2012. In the first, the Spaniard was leading the championship in the Abu Dhabi GP, but saw his advantage dismantled in the final race due to a strategy error by Ferrari, which left him stuck behind Russian Vitaly Petrov.

“I never had a problem with Alonso. I worked well with him, but he always had two faces and two personalities. One thing is what is shown, the other is behind closed doors. He always cared about himself, it was his modus operandi. I remember that in 2010 he had a great championship, he deserved to win, he was more consistent and he lost due to a strategy error. In the last race, they focused on Webber instead of Vettel. He lost two championships in the last race and I think everything happens for a reason in life. Nothing is by accident. Maybe Fernando should have won two more championships, but he must have learned, because all this helps us learn. I'm not sure, but I believe that this made him change. I hope and wish for that,” he added.

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