Fifteen years later, the 2008 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix continues to be talked about due to the “Crashgate,” in which Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashed to benefit his teammate Fernando Alonso’s strategy. That year, Felipe Massa narrowly missed the title and wants to recover it by contesting that race. However, the process is dragging on.
The deadline for responding to the first set of demands sent by the driver to F1 and the FIA has now been extended until November 15, after previously being extended until October 12. This postponement was granted at the request of the championship and the governing body. For now, everything is proceeding extrajudicially, in an attempt to reach an agreement with F1 management.
Bernardo Viana, Massa’s lawyer, told Estadão: ‘We agree with this final period because if the new administration is indeed examining the matter in good faith, they will certainly come to the same conclusion we reached along with many people from around the world.’
According to Viana, the FIA and FOM themselves are conducting an internal investigation: ‘The FIA and FOM are concluding an internal investigation and have requested a final extension to the deadline they had initially asked for, from October 12 to November 15. We would like to know the position of the new leadership of Formula 1 regarding the revealed scandal and the injustice faced by Felipe Massa.’
In this process, the intentions of the former Brazilian F1 driver are to restore what he considers fair and at least share the title with Lewis Hamilton, as well as be compensated with a sum around 150 million dollars.