Ecclestone’s Revelations
In recent weeks, following the revelations made by former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestonewe have returned to constant talk of the infamous 2008 Singapore GP. That of Marina Bay was the 800th race in the history of the Circus – the first held at night – but it is remembered above all for the ‘crashgate’ which involved the Renault team. The facts are well known: the top management of the team forced the second driver – Nelson Piquet Jr. – to crash voluntarily in a certain phase of the race to favor the entry of the Safety Car and the comeback of Fernando Alonso, who started from the rear. The Spaniard then went on to win the race, thanks to a pit stop strategy specifically designed to make the most of Piquet’s deliberate crash.
Collateral casualty mass
There however, the collateral victim of this ‘intrigue’ was Felipe Massa, involved that year in a very balanced fight with Lewis Hamilton for the conquest of the world title. The Ferrari driver was dominating that GP, but the pit stop to which he was forced to enter the safety car was disastrous – the filler that remained attached to the car is ‘famous’ – and completely ruined the Brazilian’s Sunday. Ecclestone’s admission that he and FIA president Max Mosley had already discovered the maneuver orchestrated by the Renault team bosses at the time but had waited to take action – ordering the Piquet family not to reveal what happened immediately – drove Massa to move through lawyers to evaluate his legal options regarding a hypothetical cancellation of that race, which would lead to a reallocation of the world title.
Piquet speaks again
15 years after those events, even Nelson Piquet Jr. has now felt the need to address that delicate issue. In 2009 it was the driver, dismounted by Renault in the middle of the season, who, together with his father – three times world champion in F1 – unveiled the ‘conspiracy’. Recently, interviewed during an episode of the podcast Pelas Pistas, Piquet Jr. recounted further details of what happenedalso showing regret for the problems caused to his compatriot Massa: “It was a team order made to help someone within our team – said Piquet – it was not done to harm Felipe Massa. There was no such thing. It was a mistake. But, in the position I was in, dreaming of staying in F1 for many years, the Singapore race arrived and they psychologically cornered me.”.
In the hands of a “bully”
To be convicted for the incident were the CEO Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, director of engineers. Both were initially banned for life from the sport. However, their disqualifications were later overturned by a French court. “Many ask me: ‘Would you do it again?’ and my answer is: ‘Obviously not’ – concluded Piquet – but at that age and under that pressure… I didn’t have anyone with me in Formula 1, if not a bully (Briatore), who was always complaining and constantly warning me: ‘This is your last chance’. I had the feeling that everything was falling apart. I should have done more tests, I was another teammate not strong enough for Alonso, like Kovalainen”.
#Crashgate #Piquet #speaks #FormulaPassion