Damon Hill: Lewis Hamilton should have lost the 2008 F1 title to Felipe Massa

Former F1 champion Damon Hill feels that Lewis Hamilton should have lost the 2008 title to Felipe Massa, as he alludes to the infamous Crashgate playing a major role in the outcome. Hill is arguably one of the first respected voices in the paddock to have come out and accepted the role played by the scandal in the 2008 title battle.

The 2008 F1 championship was fought between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. The Brit was in his second season in the sport and spearheading the campaign for McLaren against Ferrari, where the Brazilian was in his third year with the Italian team.

The battle was closely fought, and Lewis Hamilton clinched the title on the last lap of the season by pulling off an overtake on Timo Glock. While the battle was closely fought and there wasn't much controversy at the time, the shocking revelation a year later, where it was revealed that Renault boss Flavio Briatore had instructed his driver to crash at a specified time in the 2008 F1 Singapore GP, courted a lot of controversy.

In the 2008 F1 Singapore GP, Felipe Massa was comfortably leading the race and looked destined to win. It was at this moment that the Renault driver would crash out of the race, bringing out the safety car, inadvertently helping his teammate Fernando Alonso to win. Massa was the worst affected as the crash-induced pit stop went wrong, and the driver wouldn't score any points.

After more than a decade, Bernie Ecclestone told F1 insider that he knew about the Crashgate scandal in 2008, but in collusion with the then FIA president Max Mosley, he didn't act on it because the sport was already reeling from the Spygate scandal of 2007. The revelation has led to a lawsuit from Felipe Massa, subsequently questioning the 2008 F1 championship that went Lewis Hamilton's way.

In his interview on the High Performance Podcast, Damon Hill was questioned about the scandal in 2021 where Lewis Hamilton lost the title due to dubious decision-making by the then race director Michael Masi in Abu Dhabi. The F1 legend did admit that the eighth title that Hamilton lost should have been his. At the same time, Hill also gave his opinion on the controversial 2008 championship and felt that Hamilton should have lost that one. he said,

“That eighth title that did not happen, perhaps should have happened. But on the other hand, perhaps he should have lost [in 2008] with Felipe Massa. But I think he should have won in his first year as well.”

Chasing his record-breaking eighth F1 title, Lewis Hamilton remains well behind his competitors after eight races into the 2025 season.

Hill on differences between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen's racing

The 1996 F1 champion also touched on the way the current champion Max Verstappen races compared to how Lewis Hamilton approaches it. Crediting the 7x champion for his hunger for racing, Hill felt that the key difference between the two is their personalities, where the Dutch driver is more aggressive in his approach. In an aforementioned source, Hill said:

“They are different types of racers. I don’t think even Lewis really knows how big his natural talent is. He is naturally gifted and has an extraordinary talent for driving and a passion for racing. He still wants to race."

He added,

“I think it’s mainly personality differences between them. Lewis was able to compete from the start, just like Max. Max is a more aggressive driver than Lewis on track. Lewis has done something every now and then, but that’s much rarer.”

Lewis Hamilton is currently in his first season with Ferrari. The British driver has not had the best of starts to a season but the driver would be hoping to build on it as he is still learning how things work at the Italian squad.