McLaren has posted a video on social media that teases ex-Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa over his suggestion that he is looking into legal action over the outcome of the 2008 F1 title.
Massa was beaten by Lewis Hamilton to the championship in 2008 in dramatic circumstances, with Hamilton producing a last corner overtake to get back into a title-winning position.
It marked Hamilton’s first F1 championship and remains the last time that McLaren has emerged triumphant in a title fight.
However, controversy has risen in recent weeks as Massa has suggested that he is pushing for legal action following comments made by ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone was speaking about the infamous 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in which Renault purposely crashed one of its cars to give Fernando Alonso a route to victory.
The incident benefitted Hamilton while hampering Massa, and details emerged in 2009 that the race was fixed by Renault after Nelson Piquet Jr, the Renault driver who crashed, blew the whistle after he was dropped from the team.
Ecclestone recently claimed that Max Mosley, then the president of the FIA, knew about the situation during the 2008 season but “decided not to do anything for now”.
Massa said that he was “very sad” to hear that Mosley was aware of the incident, and understands that it is unlikely anything will change.
“There are rules, and there are many things that, depending on the country, you cannot go back after 15 years to resolve a situation,” he said.
“But I intend to study the situation; study what the laws say, and the rules. We have to have an idea of what is possible to do.”
Amid the situation, McLaren has opted to post a TikTok using a viral sound that contains ‘Denial is a river in Egypt’ (a play on the words ‘The Nile’).
Almost 24 hours after the video has been posted, it has over half a million views as well as over 100,000 likes.
@mclaren Denial is a river in Egypt. 😉 #McLaren #F1 #LewisHamilton #Cars #Formula1 #Trend
