By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) -Felipe Massa said in a witness statement made public on Wednesday that his former Ferrari boss Jean Todt suspected immediately after the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix that Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr had crashed on purpose, but he had not believed him.
The ex-driver was attending a High Court hearing in London for his action against Formula One Management, former supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the governing FIA resulting from one of the sport's biggest scandals.
In the written
statement, Massa said then-Ferrari CEO Todt called him to his office "very soon after the 2008 Singapore GP finished" along with team boss Stefano Domenicali, now F1 chief executive.
"Todt said he was sure Nelsinho crashed on purpose. I did not believe him because I know Jean Todt does not like Flavio Briatore (then the Team Principal of Renault) -- they had a personal rivalry," Massa explained.
The Brazilian, who finished championship runner-up by a single point to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in 2008, told Todt he did not think any driver would do that.
He said a 2023 report that Ecclestone and the late FIA president Max Mosley allegedly knew already in 2008 that the crash was deliberate, but took no action, came as a "massive shock".
Massa is now suing for a declaration that he should have won the 2008 championship, and would have done so if the race had been annulled, and is seeking around 64 million pounds ($85.9 million) plus interest.
The defendants argue Massa knew enough to sue in 2008 and 2009, meaning the case should be thrown out as having been brought too late.
Piquet, whose father and namesake is a triple world champion, told the FIA in late July 2009 he had been ordered to crash by team bosses to help teammate Fernando Alonso win.
Briatore is now running the Renault-owned Alpine team after a lifetime ban from the sport was overturned in 2010.
Massa, who was managed by Todt's son Nicolas and retired in 2017, said that ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in April 2009 he came across Briatore and former Ferrari and Benetton racer Jean Alesi at a restaurant and joined them.
"During the lunch, I asked Flavio Briatore whether he had asked Nelsinho to crash on purpose at the 2008 Singapore GP. Flavio Briatore denied that Nelsinho had crashed on purpose," he said in the statement.
"I thought he was probably lying by the way he answered me, but I did not know."
That July he was on a plane with Piquet Jr flying to a karting event in Italy and asked his compatriot if he crashed on purpose.
The Brazilian denied it but Massa said "the way he answered me he didn’t convince me he was telling the truth."
Massa said he was reprimanded by Ferrari in October 2009 after telling reporters he believed Alonso, who had already signed to join the Italian team in 2010, knew Piquet had crashed on purpose.
The Spaniard, a double world champion who is still racing in F1 for Aston Martin, has denied any such knowledge and was cleared of wrongdoing by an FIA enquiry.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
