Lewis Hamilton refutes Felipe Massa theory that Ferrari driver was 'robbed' of 2008 title

Lewis Hamilton refutes Felipe Massa theory that Ferrari driver was 'robbed' of 2008 title


Lewis Hamilton has said he was shocked to hear Felipe Massa's claim that he was robbed of last year's world championship as a direct consequence of Renault fixing the result of the Singapore Grand Prix.


Massa was leading Formula One's inaugural night race when Nelson Piquet Jnr's deliberate crash forced the deployment of the safety car and the Brazilian dived into the pits to refuel, only for Ferrari to botch the stop after they left the refuelling hose attached to his car as he left the pit box.
Piquet's team-mate Fernando Alonso won the race, with Massa finishing well down the field and he eventually lost out on the title by a single point to Hamilton in a dramatic finish in Brazil.
The 28-year-old, who is recovering from an horrific accident in Hungary, claimed in an interview with Brazilian television channel Globo that Piquet's intervention had ultimately cost him the drivers' crown, stating: "Everything that happened was robbery but nothing has happened to the race. The result didn't change. This is not right. The robbery changed the championship. I lost by one point."
Hamilton, however, has rejected that notion, insisting it had been a fair fight to the end but also stressing he was glad to hear Massa was making good progress in his recovery.
Hamilton said: "I'm shocked to hear him say that because I've always felt him a fair driver and he knows that we had a fair battle right to the end, at least that's how I saw it.
"It's good to hear that he's recovering well and he's back on his feet and back to his normal self and feeling good.
"All we can say is that it was a tough season, things happened. There were lots and lots of 'what-ifs' throughout the season so I'm a bit surprised to hear him say that because I thought we had quite a fair battle and I won it fair and square, so it doesn't matter to me what he said."
Hamilton got his first taste of the iconic Suzuka circuit during today's two practice sessions, although his participation in the latter was curtailed by heavy rain and the 24-year-old admitted he was thrilled with what he encountered.
"I've always wanted to drive here," he added.
"I remember what happened here in 1989 in the last chicane (when Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna collided to hand the Frenchman the title). Yesterday I was walking the track and I was standing on the chicane thinking 'wow, this is where one of the incidents happened with Ayrton and Prost, there's turn one', there's such great history here."
Hamilton topped the timesheets for a period during the first session and is confident McLaren can enjoy another strong weekend in Japan following his victory in Singapore last weekend.
"I got on the track this morning, I enjoyed it, my first couple of laps were very quick, the car doesn't feel terrible, which was a good sign. I'm just looking forward to getting out there in the dry and see how quick you can push," he said.
"Considering I'd never been here, it wasn't too bad. It's a great feeling when you sit in the garage for the majority of the session and no-one has gone out and beaten your lap, particularly people who have been here many times before.
"We thought the Red Bulls and the Brawns were potentially going to be the quickest here and we may still see that but I don't think we're in that bad a position, so we might be able to compete for at least a top-five (finish). I wouldn't say we're out of the running for a podium."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/lewishamilton/6254156/Lewis-Hamilton-refutes-Felipe-Massa-theory-that-Ferrari-driver-was-robbed-of-2008-title.html