Former Ferrari boss and FIA president Jean Todt stated the results of the controversial 2008 Singapore Grand Prix ought to have been scratched out as quickly as wrongdoing first emerged.

That 2008 race turned often known as ‘Crashgate’ when, a 12 months later, it emerged Renault had instructed Nelson Piquet Jr to crash, which helped teammate Fernando Alonso win because of the timing of the security automotive which adopted.

That second is the premise of former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa’s authorized motion to get the race consequence, and the result of that 12 months’s championship, overturned.

Massa had been in an excellent place in that race till Piquet’s crash, which inspired everybody to pit early — when he did so, the gas nozzle bought caught in his Ferrari, inflicting him to complete down the order.

Massa went on to lose the championship to Lewis Hamilton by a single level.

The Brazilian driver has alleged then-FIA president Max Mosley, who was succeeded by Todt in 2009, and FIA race director Charlie Whiting knew concerning the conspiracy earlier than the tip of that 12 months’s championship.

Todt, who was Ferrari boss till the tip of 2008, stated in a current interview with L’Equipe: “This case is particular. There was confirmed dishonest that we solely discovered about later. The rule on the FIA has at all times been that the outcomes have to be ratified by Dec. 31, and that we by no means return on them.

“For this Singapore case, the details have been solely revealed a 12 months later, and the sanctions imposed by the FIA earlier than my arrival have been cancelled by the Paris Judicial Courtroom.”

Todt turned FIA president after his stint at Ferrari and stated he was advised no-one had identified about Crashgate earlier than it emerged publicly in 2009, however that it will have been sufficient to pressure a name for drastic motion.

“Once I was president of the FIA, I used to be not knowledgeable of this. Discovering that the federation knew the reality earlier than this well-known December 31 may certainly change issues.

“Sadly, Charlie and Max have handed away. In hindsight, effectively, we should always have requested for the race to be cancelled.

“The fully new reality, whether it is true and verifiable, is that the regulator who made the championship official knew [about what happened].”