Felipe Massa's barrister has accused former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and former FIA president of "deliberate concealment" of the events in Singapore 2008.

"The first point is that it is no exaggeration to say the deliberate crash was one of the most serious incidents of sport manipulation in world sport," claimed Massa's barrister Nick de Marco KC, of the crash involving Renault driver Nelson Piquet.

"Not only because it was a blatant attempt to intervene in the race," he continued, "but the deliberate act threatened the life of spectators and the driver himself."

In a 2023 interview with the German website F1-Insider, Ecclestone said that he and Mosley were aware of what had happened - in that Piquet had been told to deliberately crash in a bid to aid his teammate Fernando Alonso - but "decided not to do anything for the time being", adding that he and the FIA president "wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal".

"What then happens is the deliberate concealment of the conspiracy to have a crash," said de Marco, "the deliberate concealment by those with responsibility for protecting the integrity of the sport, deliberately conspiring together to cover up one of the most serious scandals in the history of sport."

Having previously said that his comment may have been misinterpreted by a journalist whose first language is not English, Ecclestone now claims that he doesn't even recall giving the interview.

The pre-trial has now concluded and it will now be decided if Massa's case will stand up to a full trial or will simply be dismissed.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Simon in Adelaide, 07/11/2025 1:06

"So who is Massa actually having this contretemps' with? Is the FIA, Bernie or the estate of Max and what exactly is he trying to prove?

Just another lawyers picnic."

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2. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 05/11/2025 20:12

"I think it is true to say that Ecclestone has consistently preferred to spend money to remove risk and discomfort when disputes appear to be turning against him. So, if this proceeds to trial and there’s a sniff of a chance of Massa’s team getting the upper hand, the cheque book will surely come out. "

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3. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 04/11/2025 18:09

"The ink is dry on the history books. Eccelstone is an old man with a potentially fading memory. Time to move on."

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4. Posted by kenji, 03/11/2025 13:40

"I think that an out of court settlement really wouldn't work. What would it be based on...damages in lieu of what? It appears to me that Massa wants the WDC based on his results not as a 'take the money and run' exercise. I think he sees it as a fraudulent enterprise and he wants to see that out in the open along with a suitable financial judgement. I can understand that but I very much doubt that he'll get satisfaction due to the precedent that it would set.......but he gets my 100% for having a crack at it."

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5. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 03/11/2025 10:15

"Save everyones time and go straight to "out of court settlement""

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6. Posted by Wokingchap, 02/11/2025 10:32

"Also, i remember that Massa, his family and ferrari were celebrating, in Brazil 2008, 'before' the race had ended."

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7. Posted by Wokingchap, 02/11/2025 10:29

"@equator..... Timo Glock was on the wrong tyres, in very wet conditions so had to slow down to stay on track."

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8. Posted by Paulinho, 02/11/2025 8:35

"Alonso was SO lucky that race, if it wasn't for his then teammate crashing, he wouldn't of won.... SO lucky."

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9. Posted by equator180, 01/11/2025 19:46

"Remember the German driver allowing a gift pass in Brazil, which allowed Lewis to claim the driver's championship. Not much said about that one either.."

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Massa's KC hits out at Ecclestone and Mosley

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