The Formula 1 title decision 16 years ago continues to stir up emotions today. Felipe Massa was considered the sure world champion, but the title was snatched away from him at the last second. The Brazilian is still fighting for the title today.
16 years ago today, one of the most spectacular decisions in the history of Formula 1 was made. In Interlagos, Felipe Massa was on his way to securing the Formula 1 world championship title. But in the last few meters of the race everything turned out differently than expected.
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Massa won the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in a dominant manner. 90,000 fans went completely crazy – the world championship title was already being celebrated in the Ferrari pits. 17 years after Ayrton Senna’s last triumph, Brazil finally has a world champion again – or so everyone thought.
Massa wins the title – or does he?
However, Lewis Hamilton achieved the impossible. 400 meters from the finish line he managed the decisive overtaking maneuver against Timo Glock. The Brit took fifth place and thus scored the decisive World Championship points. With a one point lead, Hamilton was crowned the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history.
Instead of celebrating, Massa burst into tears on the podium. The Brazilian was in no way able to enjoy the home win – ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen. His family, who had also rejoiced much too soon, also had to be comforted. It was a low blow for Ferrari and the Massa family. The Scuderia had to be content with the constructors’ title – Ferrari’s last title to date.
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However, the McLaren-Mercedes team celebrated. The first British world champion since Damon Hill in 1996 could hardly put his sensational success into words: “I’m struggling for words. I am proud of everyone who made this possible for me. It was the hardest race of my life.” Shortly after his seemingly impossible triumph, Hamilton continued: “In the end I just tried to keep the car on the track.”
Crashgate affair
In 2008, in addition to the cinematic World Cup decision, there was also one of the biggest scandals in motorsport. In the first night race in Formula 1 history in Singapore, Alonso turned out to be the alleged beneficiary of a safety car phase that resulted from a violent crash involving Nelson Piquet Jr.
The strange thing about it: Alonso and his team-mate Piquet Jr. started the race from positions 15 and 16 with no prospects. Shortly before the crash, Alonso’s car was filled with fuel. In 2008, the Formula 1 rule book stipulated that the pit lane had to remain closed during neutralization. Only when the entire field of drivers was caught by the safety car was the pit lane open again. Alonso benefited from this and then drove to victory.
Massa goes to court
The public was not informed about the incident until a year later. In March 2023, however, ex-Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that the FIA became aware of the intentionally caused accident that same year. For Massa, this was of course serious fraud and that’s why he filed a lawsuit this year against the World Automobile Association, World Cup rights holder Formula One Management and Bernie Ecclestone. But what does the Brazilian want to achieve with it?
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“To hear after 15 years that they knew back in 2008 and decided not to do anything. “That was too much for me,” revealed the now 43-year-old Motorsport-Total.com. In the process he wanted to fight “for justice”. “What I definitely strive for is to be recognized. Recognized as a champion because I deserve it,” Massa made it clear.
For Massa, what happened was “the biggest fraud in the history of sport. The fight is that this race should be canceled. That’s the fight.”
If Massa is actually proven right and the Singapore race is canceled, the Brazilian would be Formula 1 world champion and Michael Schumacher would be the sole record world champion again, as Hamilton would lose his title.
