Felipe Massa hits out at Daniel Ricciardo for joking about 2008 Crashgate scandal amidst legal fight
Felipe Massa suffered a major loss at the 2008 Singapore GP, which later cost him the title against Lewis Hamilton.
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Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo, images via IMAGO
The inaugural race around Marina Bay was nightmarish for the ex-F1 driver Felipe Massa, owing to the Crashgate scandal. On the other hand, at his last F1 race entry this year, Daniel Ricciardo wanted to go out with a bang and joked about how a similar incident would help him get a solid result. However, this light-hearted joke did not sit well with the Brazillian, who condemned Ricciardo’s statements.
Marina Bay became the host to the first-ever night race in F1 in 2008, and Ferrari was on a roll that weekend. Felipe Massa had lined up on pole ahead of his title rival Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren. Moreover, he was on course to add another victory to his already outstanding season, but Renault had other plans. The team deliberately ordered its driver to crash out to cause a safety car, which forced Massa to pit as chaos ensued in the Ferrari pit box.
Coming to this year’s Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo looked upon the possibility of how a timely safety car would help him in the race and joked about bringing back Nelson Piquet Jr. This infuriated Massa as Piqeut’s incident probably decided the outcome of the 2008 championship.
it is definitely not a nice joke, and of course not a nice thing that has happened to me.
Felipe Massa said in an interview with Motorsport-Total
Despite Massa stating that it’s not a nice joke, the F1 paddock has moved on from the incident in Singapore. Moreover, his legal battle in court regarding the scandal would probably result in the Renaults’ getting disqualified, which would aid Hamilton instead of him as the Brit would be promoted to P2. Thus, the Brazillian’s attempt at the 2008 title seems futile.
Felipe Massa asserts that his fight is not with Lewis Hamilton amid speculation
While Massa has been on the run to get the 2008 title accredited to his name, it would also mean that the championship would be snubbed away from Hamilton. This has resulted in Hamilton’s fanbase opposing the former’s efforts inside the courtroom.
![Felipe Massan [L], Lewis Hamilton [R] (images via IMAGO)](https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_COM_20231104_2255_43_1371.jpg)
However, the 43-year-old explained that his fight was not against his former championship rival but with how the manipulated race result has stood till now.
To be honest, this is not a fight with Lewis. Lewis has nothing to do with this fight at all. The fight is about what happened in the race, which was not good for the sport. The fight is that this race should be cancelled. That’s the fight.
Felipe Massa said in an interview with Motorsport.com
Apart from this, the Brazillian has often been spotted at multiple races since his retirement in 2017. He has worked as an analyst and commentator and continues his relationship with the sport off the racing track.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)