Piquet looks back on crashgate: 'I was psychologically trapped'

Nelson Piquet Junior has reacted to the events surrounding 'crashgate' and the aftermath of the race in recent months. Quoted by FormulaPassion, the Brazilian tells how he experienced the race at the time and what damage he inadvertently caused to his compatriot Felipe Massa.

The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most infamous races in Formula 1 history. Piquet was ordered by team boss Flavio Briatore to deliberately crash so that his teammate Fernando Alonso could win the race. Massa was leading up to that point but emerged badly from a pit stop during the safety car. Lewis Hamilton finished third in the race, and Massa fell outside the points, ultimately allowing Hamilton to win the season by just one point over Massa.

Officially, the whole story of 'crashgate' only became known a year later when Piquet went public with the truth. Recently, however, Bernie Ecclestone announced that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew about the events in Singapore as early as the season, but decided not to do anything about it to avoid controversy. Massa then announced that because of Ecclestone's admission, he will investigate whether the result can still be adjusted. According to Massa, it is only right if the entire race is omitted from the results, which would therefore retroactively win him the season.

The central pivot in this story - Piquet - has largely kept quiet, but was recently asked in a podcast about his take on the situation anyway. " It was a team order to help someone within our team," Piquet begins his explanation. "It was never meant to hurt Massa. That was not the plan. Obviously, it was a mistake. But in the position I was in at the time, with the dream of staying in F1 for a long time, the race in Singapore came, and they psychologically cornered me."

"I am often asked if I would do it again," Piquet continued. "And my answer is then: 'Of course not'. But at that age and under that pressure... I had nobody with me in Formula 1, only a bully [Briatore, ed.] who was always complaining and constantly threatening that this was my last chance. I felt like everything was falling apart."