Felipe Massa claims Lewis Hamilton ‘will need to speak about’ his 2008 F1 World Championship victory and the ‘Crashgate’ saga, with the Brazilian stating results were ‘manipulated’ that season

• Felipe Massa claims Lewis Hamilton ‘will need to talk’ about ‘Crashgate’ saga
• The British driver won his first World Championship beating Massa in 2008
• The Brazilian has taken legal action and said the results had been ‘manipulated’  

Felipe Massa has spoken out on the legal proceedings that have seen him contest the result of the 2008 Formula 1 championship, claiming that Lewis Hamilton, who claimed his first title that season, ‘will need to talk about the situation’. 

Earlier this summer, it was reported that Massa had launched an appeal of the result, following the the ‘Crashgate’ saga at the Singapore Grand Prix that year that ultimately saw him miss out on winning that race, and the Driver’s Championship. He added that he was hoping to gain ‘justice’. 

His comments also come after his legal representatives, Sao Paulo Vieira Rezende Advogados, urged Hamilton to help him in his case in September. 

Speaking in an interview with PlanetF1.com 42-year-old echoed those comments, claiming that he was a fan of the seven-time World Champion, but added that Hamilton needed to speak on the matter. 

‘No, we haven’t had any communication,’ he said when asked whether he’d spoken recently to Hamlton about the legal action. ‘Everything that we are doing is not against Lewis. I mean, I really respect Lewis as a driver for everything that he’s done, he’s one of the best drivers in the history of Formula One. So many records, with many titles. 

Felipe Massa announced earlier this year that he would be issuing legal proceedings to contest the 2008 F1 World Championship result 

Massa (left) lost out on the title that season to Lewis Hamilton (right) in dramatic circumstances in the last race of the season

Hamilton claimed his first World Championship at the race, but Massa has claimed that the British driver ‘will need to speak on the situation’ after the Brazilian claimed that the championships were ‘manipulated’  

‘But what I’m doing is against the result of a manipulated race. At the point in the race where the manipulation happened, I was leading, I was first in that race. So it’s nothing against Lewis.’ 

Masa had been leading in Singapore before Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed his Renault during lap 14, which the Ferrari driver claimed was done deliberately. It prompted the release of a safety car, which allowed his team-mate, Fernando Alonso to go on to claim victory at that race. 

Massa meanwhile, slumped to 13th in the final race classification despite having started on pole position, with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finishing second and third respectively.   

It would pull Masa back in the Driver’s Championship, with Hamilton going on to win the China Grand Prix, before pipping the Brazilian to the World Championship by a point at Interlagos on the final day of the season. 

Speaking on his legal case, Masa added: ‘But what I’m doing is against the result of a manipulated race. At the point in the race where the manipulation happened, I was leading, I was first in that race. So it’s nothing against Lewis. 

He is contesting the result of the Singapore Grand Prix that year following the ‘Crashgate’ saga 

Despite that he lumped praise on Hamilton, claiming he had a lot of ‘respect’ for the seven-time champion for what he has done within the sport

‘I really like Lewis as a driver and he’s doing a lot of things for justice, so many different kinds of justice in the world. I think, one time, he will need to speak and to talk about the situation. I think it’s pretty clear I’m not doing anything against him. 

His legal proceedings may have been prompted following Bernie Eccleston’s bombshell claims this year that F1 bosses knew about a conspiracy during the 2008 Singapore GP amid the ‘Crashgate’ saga.  

‘I’m doing it against the justice of the sport. When I am at home, and I see my phone after the Bernie Ecclestone interview, after the Charlie Whiting interview in the Max Mosley documentary that he knew at the last race of the season at Interlagos what happened in the Singapore race and after my son knew about it – he asked me ‘you are not doing anything?’

‘So I’m doing that for justice. I really believe what I’m doing is correct because this is not acceptable. We’re not talking about a broken engine, or someone pushing me out of the race. We’re not talking about the sporting situation, we’re talking about the manipulation that changed the result.’

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