How the FIA found out about Crashgate at Brazil 2008 F1 finale, but could not act

Massa’s actions have been prompted by recent comments from former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone regarding the fall-out from Nelson Piquet Jr.’s deliberate crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix that helped his Renault team win. 

Ecclestone suggested that both he and then FIA president Max Mosley knew about the infamous incident during the 2008 season – so had time to respond before the world title was awarded. 

In an interview with the F1-Insider website published last month, Ecclestone had said: “We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal. That’s why I used angelic tongues to persuade my former driver Nelson Piquet to keep calm for the time being.  

“Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA ​​awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So, [Lewis] Hamilton was presented with the trophy and everything was fine.  

“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions.” 

Ecclestone’s comments have hinted at a potential cover-up to protect F1 from negative headlines – and are enough for Massa to feel he needs to pursue the matter further. 

For the Brazilian would have every right to feel aggrieved that, if the FIA did know about it during 2008 when the results of that season could have been changed, then why was it not investigated immediately?

A lot of the answer to that question interestingly cropped up a few years ago when Mosley and former F1 race director Charlie Whiting were interviewed for the documentary film ‘Mosley: It’s Complicated’, which was released in 2021. 

While many of their words did not make it in to the film’s final cut, Motorsport.com did see the full-length interviews at the time – and they confirm when the FIA did first know about the matter, and why nothing was done at the time. 

Brazilian GP confession

The revelation that Nelson Piquet Jr. did crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was first told to Whiting at that year’s Brazilian GP – the scene of the title showdown between Massa and Lewis Hamilton. 

As Whiting, who passed away in 2019, explained: “There were a few conspiracy theories after the race, but nothing of any great substance. 

“But it was in Brazil, and I was talking to Nelson…