Fifteen years have ed and the embers of that Formula 1 2008 Singapore Grand Prix are still not completely extinguished, as Felipe Massa has revealed that he is considering to file a complaint following an incident that prevented him from winning the title.
It was the race in which Nelsinho Piquet purposely crashed into a wall at the Marina Bay circuit to help his teammate Fernando Alonso, who had made an early pit stop, to achieve his first victory in his return to Renault.
A nightmare at Renault
Fernando was exonerated from the subsequent investigation in 2009 in which it was demonstrated that Piquet did it on purpose following the orders of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, both of whom received five-year bans.
"It was a team order to help someone within our team, it wasn't about harming Felipe Massa, it was nothing like that," Massa told the Pelas Pistas Podcast.
"Yes, it was a mistake. But, in the position I was in, of dreaming of being in F1 for so many years... In that dream we didn't even consider having someone accompanying me. A lawyer, a manager... but it must be like that.
"My father didn't go to any races the first year. I had only Flavio, who was the team manager and my manager. Not only mine, but of six other drivers on the grid, so I was 'just a figurehead' like all the others, Webber, Kovalainen, Alonso, Fisichella, Trulli... And then, that grotesque way of Briatore, it's not just how it is on TV: it's even worse. And I was alone".
Nelsinho went on to offer more details about what allegedly happened that day in Singapore.
"Singapore came and they psychologically put me against the wall and I had no way," he added.
"Many people ask me: 'Would you do it again?' My normal answer is, 'No, obviously not.' But at that age, under that pressure? You have nobody there with you except a bully and bullying like that, always complaining, always pushing, always warning: 'This is your last chance'.
"We stayed for 2009 and then the story came out because of what happened. They terminated my contract, something they weren't supposed to do.
"I was supposed to race the whole year and all of a sudden they said, 'Now Grosjean is going to take your place.' I told them, 'You can't do that.' They treated me like a dog. And that's when I said, 'Since you're kicking me out thinking I'm garbage, I think we need to set the record straight here'.
"And that's when everybody really got the story, which, for me, was horrible. It was very traumatizing, and it still is a lot of times, because a lot of people don't understand and a lot of people judge without understanding the story."