Nelson Piquet Jr. says he was “psychologically cornered” into deliberately crashing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
‘Crashgate’ has been back in the spotlight in recent weeks after former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone claimed he and then-FIA president Max Mosley agreed not to do anything “to protect the sport” despite learning the truth of what happened during that season.
However, had the FIA acted, Ecclestone claims the Singapore result would have been cancelled, a move that would have made Felipe Massa the 2008 world champion.
In response, the Brazilian, who lost the title by a single point to Lewis Hamilton after a dramatic finish at Interlagos, said he would look into legal options to challenge the result.
And now Piquet Jr has spoken out about what happened that night in Singapore…
“It was a team order to help someone within our team, it was not to harm Felipe Massa, it was nothing like that,” he was quoted as telling the Pelas Pistas podcast.
“Yes, it was a mistake. But, in the position I was in, dreaming of staying in F1 for many years, the Singapore race arrived and they psychologically cornered me.”
‘They’ of course refers to then-Renault team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds who were later banned, indefinitely in Briatore’s case, from F1 as a result of ‘crashgate’.
And Piquet Jr went further into how poorly he claims the Italian team boss treated him.
“In that dream, we did not even consider having someone accompany me in F1, a lawyer, a manager…but it must be so,” he said.
“My father did not go to any race the first year. I only had Flavio himself, who was the team director and my manager.
“Not only mine, but that of six other drivers on the grid, so I was ‘just a figure’ like all the others, who were [Mark] Webber, [Heikki] Kovalainen, [Fernando] Alonso, [Giancarlo] Fisichella and [Jarno] Trulli.
“And then, that Briatore’s grotesque way, it’s not just how it is on TV: it’s even worse. And I was alone.”
Asked if he would ever consider deliberating crashing in a race again, Piquet replied: “My normal answer is: ‘No, obviously not’.
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“But at that age, under that pressure, you don’t have anyone there with you, except a bully like that, always complaining, always pushing, always warning: ‘This is your last chance’.
“Chasing your life and I had the feeling that everything was going backwards because I was supposed to have done more tests, that I would be replaced with another teammate not as strong as Alonso, so yes, I made a mistake.”