Hamilton has won only six titles not seven says Ecclestone
The former Formula 1 boss has been in the news again for statements about Lewis Hamilton
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is back to his old controversial ways and it shows in every comment he makes.
The former Formula 1 boss has been in the news again for statements about Lewis Hamilton, who by the way is one of his favorite subjects when it comes to generating controversy.
The British tycoon has pointed out that the Stevenage-born driver should have six World Championships instead of seven.
This is a strange statement considering that both the Mercedes driver himself (as well as his fans) think that the number should be eight.
Hamilton lost a championship on the last lap in 2021, with race director Michael Masi's handling of what happened after the safety car caused by Nicholas Latifi's accident generating endless criticism.
In the end, Max Verstappen was crowned at the Yas Marina circuit and Hamilton was left without his coveted record of winning the most world titles.
Be that as it may, Ecclestone believes Felipe Massa should have won the 2008 World Championship. That was the year of Crashgate.
That scandalous affair took place at the Singapore Grand Prix. Before the race, Flavio Briatore, Renault's boss at the time, and Pat Symonds, the Enstone-based team's technical director, met with Alonso's teammate Nelson Piquet Jr to get him to purposely crash in order to favor the Spaniard, and the Brazilian agreed. Ultimately, the FIA punished Briatore and Symonds, while Alonso and Piquet got off scot-free in the high-profile scandal.
"We decided not to do anything. We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal," Ecclestone told F1-Insider.
"At the time, there was a rule that a world champion's ranking was untouchable after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year.
"So, Hamilton was presented with the cup and everything was fine. Massa should have been the 2008 champion."
When pressed further on the matter, the former F1 boss explained that the sport should have done more to declassify the Singapore result.
"We had enough information at the time to investigate the matter," he continued.
"According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the Singapore race under those conditions. That means it would have had no impact on the championship standings and Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.
"Even today I still feel sorry for Massa. I feel sorry for him. In the end, he won his home race in Sao Paulo and did everything right. He was cheated and didn't get the title he deserved, while Hamilton had all the luck in the world and won his first championship."
Hamilton scored 98 points compared against Massa's return of 97. In Singapore, Alonso won, with Lewis on the podium in third place. At the Marina Bay circuit, the Brazilian finished 13th that year.
"Today I would have done things differently. That's why, for me, Michael Schumacher remains the only record world champion, even if the statistics say otherwise," Ecclestone concluded.
