Former Ferrari and FIA boss Jean Todt has sided with Felipe Massa in the Brazilian’s ongoing legal challenge against the FIA and FOM.
Massa lost out on the 2008 title to Lewis Hamilton by just one point, but the former Ferrari driver and his legal team claim that he was the victim of a “conspiracy” which cost him the championship.
During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr crashed, bringing out a Safety Car which assisted team-mate Fernando Alonso to victory.
Alonso made his first stop just moments before Piquet found the barriers at Turn 17, vaulting the Spaniard to the front of the field.
Meanwhile, Massa had been leading proceedings from pole but was shuffled down the order when he left his pit stall with the fuel rig still attached to his car. The Ferrari driver classified 13th as title rival Hamilton took third place.
It was later found that Piquet had crashed deliberately and it is alleged that former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and then FIA president Max Mosley were involved in a cover-up which cost the Brazilian an F1 title and “tens of millions of euros” in missed income and reputational harm.
Earlier this year, Ecclestone admitted in an interview with F1-Insider that he and Mosely were aware of the situation “during the 2008 season” but decided not to take action “to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal.”
“Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton was presented with the trophy and everything was fine,” Ecclestone said.
“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions.”
The 93-year-old ex-F1 supremo now claims to have no recollection of the comments.
Todt served as Ferrari’s General Manager of Racing between 1993 and 2007, including a spell as CEO between 2004 and 2006. The Frenchman kept his ties with the Scuderia as a Special Advisor until 2009 when he was elected President of the FIA, succeeding Mosely.
“I won’t get into the controversy, but it was very hard for him psychologically,” Todt said of his former driver to Italian newspaper La Stampa.
“Maybe we could have been tougher when the story became known, but there is no doubt that the Singapore Grand Prix was rigged, and should have been cancelled.”
If the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was to be ruled null and void, Massa would emerge as champion over Hamilton by five points.
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