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Lewis Hamilton's first F1 title now has an asterisk attached to it, with Felipe Massa seeking legal action for the proceedings of the 2008 Singapore GP. The former Ferrari driver and the 2008 F1 championship runner-up's actions are a result of a recent interview from Bernie Ecclestone. The interview's details have opened up a whole new can of worms.
For details on why Felipe Massa is seeking legal action and why we are discussing the 2008 F1 season in 2023, click here. In this feature, we're trying to target different layers of the entire scandal and reveal why F1, the sport that we love, can be an unfair mistress.
What role did the 2008 F1 Singapore GP(Crashgate) play in the title battle?
Crashgate was one of the darkest moments in the history of F1 where the race's outcome was fixed by a pre-planned sequence of events. Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash at a particular point in the race, at a particular section of the track by team Flavio Briatore. Why? So that it kicks off a chain reaction that ends with his teammate Fernando Alonso winning the race.
What happened in Crashgate is an intriguing story in its own right (for details, click here) but it also cost Felipe Massa a world championship. If the race continued without the safety car intervention caused by Piquet's crash, Massa looked destined to win the race and the championship (he lost by one point).
On the other hand, if the 'fixed' race was not considered to be a part of the 2008 F1 championship, Felipe Massa would have been the world champion.
However, the result of the race was taken at face value even when it was proven that there was clear manipulation in the race. This played a major role in the final result.
What is Lewis Hamilton's role in this?
The thing is, when we talk about Lewis Hamilton's role in all of this, there isn't one. The British driver did nothing wrong. He wasn't part of any conspiracy in any which way. He fought for the championship in a sporting manner and one can't find fault in his actions in any which way.
There is, however, one thing that cannot be ignored. Lewis Hamilton benefitted massively from the chain of events triggered by Nelson Piquet's crash. Before the crash, Hamilton had no answer to Felipe Massa's pace for the entire weekend.
The Brazillian had out-qualified Lewis Hamilton by a whopping .66 seconds for the race and was cruising to a win. The crash forced panic in the Ferrari camp and Massa's disastrous pitstop completely destroyed his race. Lewis Hamilton gained massively in a race where he was going to drop points to the Ferrari driver.
Inadvertently, not by his own doing, Lewis Hamilton was arguably the second biggest benefactor of Crashgate after the Fernando Alonso-Renault combination.
Understanding where Felipe Massa is coming from
The driver had protested the 2008 F1 championship's result after Crashgate became public knowledge in 2009. Massa had no grounds to appeal due to the convoluted nature of the FIA's rules. Hence, he was forced to accept that his title fight in 2008 was decided by a fixed race.
What is important to understand here is where Felipe Massa's appeal is coming from. Not many fans who have just started following the sport are even aware of the importance of 2008 in the Brazilian's career. Felipe Massa's career peaked in 2008 and would have had the cherry on top if he had accomplished the goal of winning the title.
The 2008 season was a year of defying expectations. It was a year when the No. 2 driver in Ferrari outclassed the reigning world champion, Kimi Raikkonen. It was a year where the Brazilian took on Lewis Hamilton, a driver who was destined to be an all-time great (and eventually became one), and held his own.
Most importantly, Felipe Massa had the elusive prestige of being a "Ferrari world champion". A prestige that eluded even world-class talents like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and Alain Prost. All of this was taken away because F1 and the FIA opted to count a fixed race as part of the world championship.
Not many people in this world can claim to be the best in the world at what they do. Felipe Massa had the opportunity in 2008 and it was taken away because of a fixed race in Singapore.
The Brazilian is not coming into this from a place of monetary gain, he's coming from a place of seeking validation of his career. A career that went off the rails because of an errant spring in Hungary in 2009.
The can of worms it could open
Does Felipe Massa have a case? Ethically, yes. But the reality is arguably different. In a sport, we cannot have manipulated or fixed events play a role in the outcome. From a sporting point of view, Felipe Massa should be the 2008 F1 world champion and the decision should be reversed.
The problem with all of this lies in its practicality. If we remove the 2008 F1 Singapore GP, we change the results of the driver championship. We could possibly change the final standings in the constructors' championship as well.
What all of this does is open a can of worms. If that happens, one would have to find a way to redistribute prize money that has already been given to teams that don't exist anymore. All in all, if this is pursued, it becomes far too messy and to be fair, impractical.
The harsh reality of F1
It is at this point where, as F1 fans, we have to understand the harsh reality of the sport. Yes, F1 is a sport but it's also a business and a sustainable one at that. Sometimes things that happen are not fair to a driver or a team. For instance, over the last two years much has been made about what happened to Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
Yes, that was not fair. Lewis Hamilton losing the title because the race director wanted to end the race in green flag conditions was not a good look. At the same time, what happened to Felipe Massa in 2008 was not good either.
As fans, there are many moments in our sport where we have to take the bad with the good. It will be interesting to see what happens next, but if you're a Ferrari/Felipe Massa fan, don't hold your breath for 'justice' or 'fairness'. The 2008 F1 championship being decided by a fixed race was unfair, just like what happened to Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
This is the sport we love, and sometimes it is an unfair mistress.
