Alonso described as having 'two personalities' by this former driver

The pair drove together at the Maranello-based outfit for four seasons, achieving moderate success. Alonso in particular came close to winning the Drivers' Championship twice in 2010 and 2012, but was beaten on both occasions by Sebastian Vettel in Red Bull machinery.

Alonso is a two-time World Champion, both of which were achieved for Renault. An incident that occured between him and Massa in 2008 when the former was still driving for the French team still seems to be bugging the latter to this day.

In what is now referred to as "Crashgate", Alonso's teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed his car on purpose to bring out a late Safety Car during the 2008 Sinagpore Grand Prix, effectively handing Alonso the win. This was to the detriment of Massa, who failed to score points that day and subsequently lost the Championship battle against McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by one point.

Alonso didn't behave well

According to Massa, the Spaniard still hasn't apologised for his role in the scandal. He told Relevo: "He's an incredible driver. One of the greatest phenomena in F1, without a doubt. But that doesn't take away anything from what I think about him in relation to the 2008 incident. Fernando didn't behave well."

"He never spoke about it and it's a shame because his greatness as a driver doesn't match the way he behaved there. He said he didn't know anything but he covered it all up. It's unacceptable because we're talking about a great man on a sporting level," added the Brazilian former driver.

Massa went as far as to criticise the now-Aston Martin driver, but also stated that their relationship is by no means on bad terms: "I never had any problems with Fernando, but he always had two personalities. One he showed and the other he revealed behind closed doors. He only focused on himself and he had a great championship in 2010, deserving to win."

"But maybe he lost them because of a strategic error. He lost two world titles in the last race and I think everything happens for a reason," Massa added. "Nothing in our lives is by chance."

Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels! 
X | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube