Felipe Massa has backtracked on comments he made about incoming Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso after claiming the Spaniard had known about Renault’s race-fixing plot.
The Brazilian driver caused a storm in his homeland on Wednesday after telling local journalists that he was in no doubt that Alonso had been aware of the conspiracy carried out by his Renault team in Singapore last year, which helped the Spaniard win the race.
Massa had been comfortably leading the Singapore race at the time of Piquet’s crash, but the resulting safety car wiped out the Ferrari driver’s lead and gave way to a disastrous pit stop which dropped him out of the points – the Brazilian since claiming that the Renault-triggered “robbery” cost him the world title.
Since the plot first came to light in early August, Alonso has always maintained he never had any idea that the team’s senior management and Nelson Piquet Jr had conspired to carry out the crash and was cleared of any involvement at the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council hearing last month.
With Massa’s controversial comments about his 2010 team-mate looking set to be the talk of the paddock on the opening day of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, the Brazilian moved to issue a clarification on Ferrari’s website.
Massa admits he does still suspect that Alonso did know about the plot, but stressed that he had no facts to dispute the outcome of the FIA’s investigation and was now keen to draw a line under the matter.
“What I've said is the outcome of a hunch I've had and is not based on any concrete evidence,” Massa said in a statement.
“The FIA World Council announced that there was no indication that Fernando may have been informed of what had happened and I respect this outcome.
“Obviously I'm very disappointed about what transpired last year in Singapore: I have already said several times what I thought about it and now it's time to close that chapter and to look to the future.”
The Brazilian added that he is “certain” the Renault race-fixing conspiracy and his own lingering suspicions would not damage his relationship with Alonso when the Spaniard joins him at Ferrari on a three-year deal from next season.
“What is certain is that this episode will not mar in any way the relationship I'll have with Fernando when we will be team-mates,” Massa added.
Massa, out injured since sustaining head injuries in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, returns to the F1 paddock for the first time at his home Interlagos race this weekend, with the local favourite to wave the chequered flag at the end of the race.
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