What is ‘Crashgate’ and why is it so important right now?

Back in 2008, there were some fresh controversies surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s first championship win, specifically in relations to the Singapore Grand Prix that year. Felipe has officially taken the scandal to courts, meaning Lewis Hamilton could be stripped from his first championship title, demoting him from a 7-time world champion to a 6-time world champion.

What is ‘crashgate’?

At the Singapore Grand Prix of 2008, as Nelson Piquet Jr. made his way around turn 17, the Brazilian struck his Renault at the exit, bringing out the safety car. This gave an advantage to his teammate Fernando Alonso, who had pitted just before the safety car. Regulations in 2008 stated that drivers could not pit under the safety car until all cars were in a pack together. Alonso went on to win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, with thanks to his teammate and Lewis Hamilton finished in P3, while Filipe Massa had finished outside the points.

Despite a poor season, Piquet was given a seat at Renault for the 2009 season, but he was later replaced with test driver Romain Grosjean after he failed to score a single point in 10 races. In the week of Piquet’s departure from the team, Piquet went to the FIA to allege that the team had gave him orders to intentionally crash his car to give Alonso the pit-stop advantage.

image via. PlanetF1 https://www.planetf1.com/features/singapore-grand-prix-iconic-moments-crashgate/

By September the team had been charged by the FIA, and a week later it was announced that Renault were looking to pursue legal action against Piquet for attempting to ‘blackmail’ the team into keeping his seat. Not long after announcing legal action, the team had backed down, saying that they would not contest charges. Immediately after, Managing director Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds left the team. Briatore was given a lifetime ban from any event sanctioned by the FIA, while Symonds was given a ban of 5 year, after he pleaded guilty. Symonds later returned to the paddock as Williams chief technical officer and continues to work in the position today. Renault were handed a ban from the sport, while Alonso and his mechanics were found to be innocent from any wrongdoings.

As the season stood, the 6 points gained by Hamilton that race, proved to be crucial for the championship that season with the McLaren driver had won the title by a single point.

Why is it important right now?

15 years later the incident is being revisited after Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s CEO at the time, mentioned in an interview that he and Max Mosley, FIA president, had known about Piquet’s and Renaults wrongdoings far before the news had come out, and had attempted to keep the news quite to protect the sport from the scandal.

Had the investigation started as soon as the pair had been notified, the results of the Singapore race would have been nullified, giving Massa the 2008 title by 5 points. Ecclestone explained, the rules at the time stated that the standings were set in stone after the end of season awards ceremony and couldn’t be retracted.

Bernie Ecclestone commented, "I still feel sorry for Massa today. He won his final at his home race in Sao Paulo, did everything right. He was cheated out of the title he deserved, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship.”

"Today I would have handled it differently. That's why, for me, Michael Schumacher is still the sole record world champion. Even if the statistics say otherwise", he added.

The Brazilian is now exploring legal options 15 years later, which could lead to the ‘crashgate’ saga ending up back in court and Hamilton possibly being stripped from his first world title.