“Treated Me Like a Dog”: After Snubbing Felipe Massa for Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet Jr. Launches Scathing Attack on Mastermind of Crashgate

The darkest moment of Formula 1 history can be attributed to the Piquet family. Nelson Piquet Jr. was the executor of the 2008 Singapore GP crash gate scandal. And while he did that to save his career, the aftermath just saw him being sent out of the team and resulted in failed Formula 1 aspiration. However, ever since the pot around 2008 WDC has stirred, the Brazilian has come forward to highlight the dirty side of the man who was responsible for it all.

Felipe Massa came out of his 15-year-long slumber a few days ago, stating that he intends to explore legal options for reclaiming the 2008 championship that he lost to Lewis Hamilton. Though a predetermined crash did see cars lining up and waiting for the pitlane to open up, the botched Ferrari pit stop was the reason why Massa lost and not the crash. However, probably still guilty over what he did all those years ago, Piquet Junior has been making shocking revelations about his time at Renault.

Piquet told F1 Maximaal all about the treatment of the then-team principal of the French outfit Renault. “My dad didn’t go to the races that first year,” Piquet kicks off in the Pelas Pistas podcast. “I only had Flavio (Briatore, ed.), he was my team boss and my manager. He was not only my manager but also six other drivers on the grid,” explains the Brazilian. “His behavior was even worse than what you saw on TV. I was alone and he made me so unstable in such a way that sometimes people don’t understand what I had to go through. He treated me like a dog.”

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However, unlike his father, who has been subjected to almost a million-dollar fine because of the racist remarks he made about Lewis Hamilton, the junior has sided with him.

How did Piquet Junior side with Lewis Hamilton talking about the 2008 WDC?

2008, Singapore GP saw an unexpected crash involving Nelson Piquet junior at turn 17 on lap 14, where his teammate, Fernando Alonso, benefitted the most. But the team soon booted out the man who came out to accept that the crash was in fact an orchestrated one intending to benefit Alonso.

As quoted by Formula Passion, Piquet said, “It was a team order made to help someone within our team –– it was not done to harm Felipe Massa. There was no such thing. 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. ”

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Have you watched how the 2008 Singapore GP race unfolded? Do you think if the crash hadn’t happened, Massa would have won the WDC?