Former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has denied that the sport attempted to cover up details of the ‘Crashgate’ scandal that will be heard in a legal case brought by Felipe Massa.
The Brazilian has launched a bid through UK courts citing “moral” and “reputational” damages, after Ecclestone was quoted by German publication F1-Insider as saying he and then-FIA president Max Mosley were aware of the finer details of the contrived race in question.
The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix saw one of the most infamous incidents in F1 history, with Fernando Alonso taking victory for Renault in the event’s inaugural staging.
Alonso took victory after starting 15th, capitalising on a Safety Car period caused by team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr crashing out of the race.
It transpired that Piquet had been instructed to crash to instigate the Safety Car, giving Alonso an opportunity to leapfrog the pack with a well-timed pit stop.
Massa also pitted, leading the race at the time, but was unsafely released by his Ferrari crew, his fuel hose still attached.
He finished 13th, with the points he would have likely earned, had the incident not occurred seen him become World Champion that year, eventually losing to Lewis Hamilton in a dramatic final race in Brazil.
The F1-Insider interview, 2023, prompted Massa to pursue an overturning of the result in court, with the date set for October 28.
“Accountability is key to preventing future fraud,” Massa told The Times.
“Those entrusted with protecting the sport directly violated their duties, and they cannot be allowed to benefit from concealing their own misconduct.
“Such conduct is unacceptable in any sphere of life, especially in a sport followed by millions, including children.
“We will pursue this to the very end in order to achieve a just and fair outcome — for myself, for motorsport in Brazil, and for the sport as a whole.”
Ecclestone ‘doesn’t understand’ how Massa F1 challenge has reached court
The fallout from the scandal saw Renault boss Flavio Briatore given a lifetime ban from F1 [later overturned], along with a five-year ban for Executive Engineer Pat Symonds.
Ecclestone, who sold the F1 Group to Liberty Media in 2017, refutes the notion that he and Mosely, who died in 2021, were aware of the details of what transpired.
“There is no way in the world anyone could change or cancel that race,” he said, also to The Times. “There is always something going on where someone would like to cancel it if they could.
“To try to persuade the president of the FIA to call a special meeting where the FIA would have to cancel the race — there were no provisions for that to happen.
“Max knew there was not enough evidence at the time to do anything.
“It only started later when young Nelson decided he wanted to say something when he found out he was not going to get a seat for the following year.
“Max was not saying we should cover this up but just that it was not good for the image of Formula 1.”
Ecclestone also claimed the comments made to F1-Insider were misconstrued due to the language barrier of speaking to a publication from outside the UK.
“This was an interview I gave to someone in Germany,” he explained.
“And the guy at the time, his English wasn’t that good and he was taking notes, and it was picked up by someone in England.
“The lawyers for myself, the FIA and F1 do not understand how it can be heard in a court.”
READ MORE – Romain Grosjean handed F1 reunion with Haas five years after horror crash
Discussion about this post