Felipe Massa isn’t holding back as he prepares for next step to strip Lewis Hamilton of his 2008 championship

Felipe Massa has stepped up his efforts to look into the legality of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship, according to widespread reports.

Lewis Hamilton, racing for McLaren in 2008, won his maiden F1 title that year, beating Massa, who was with Ferrari, by one point in the driver's standings. However, one point of discussion from that season remains Nelson Piquet Jr's crash at the 2008 Singapore GP — widely dubbed 'crashgate'.

Piquet's crash in Singapore led to a Safety Car being deployed, during which a botched pit stop for race leader Massa saw the Brazilian finish outside of the points, with Hamilton finishing P3. It has long been said that Piquet deliberately crashed in that race to help then-Renault teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone recently revealed that he and then-FIA President Max Mosley knew about the details of 'crashgate' and that they helped prevent the scandal from being uncovered.

Following Ecclestone's comments, Massa has stated his intention to "study" the laws and reinvestigate the situation. Motorsport.com have reported that he has assembled a team of lawyers who are actively investigating the case in detail.

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What did Bernie Ecclestone say to prompt Felipe Massa to look into legality of 2008 F1 title?

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone stated that he and then-FIA President Max Mosley knew about Nelson Piquet Jr.'s deliberate crash in Singapore and how it impacted the 2008 title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. He also admitted that they kept the incident under wraps to "protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal."

He said (via F1-Insider):

"Max and I were informed during the 2008 season about what had happened in the race in Singapore. [Renault driver] Piquet Jr had told his father [three-time F1 champion] Nelson that he had been asked by the team to deliberately drive into the wall at a certain point in time in order to trigger a safety car phase and help his team-mate Alonso [who won the race]. We decided not to do anything for the time being. We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal."

He added:

"At that time there was the rule that a World Championship classification after the FIA award ceremony at the end of the year is untouchable. So Hamilton was presented with the championship trophy and everything was fine. I still feel sorry for Massa today. He won the final at his home race in Sao Paulo and did everything right. He was cheated out of the deserved title, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship. Today I would have arranged it differently."