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Published: Friday October 2, 2009 MYT 9:16:00 AM

Massa still fumes over Renault race fix

SUZUKA, Japan (AP): Ferrari's recovering driver Felipe Massa is still fuming over Renault's deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, saying it cost him the 2008 drivers' championship.

Massa's Singapore 2008 race was ruined when he drove away from a pitstop with the fuel hose still attached, costing him valuable time. His failure at Singapore cost him the drivers' title, which he lost by a single point to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Renault admitted Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed in the race to bring out the safety car, helping teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.

"I was very upset with everything that happened," Massa told Brazilian television. "Not only with what Renault did, which was a theft.

"The safety car meant that most of the cars had to go the pits, and I was one of them. We had 10 cars going into the pits. Mine went wrong. There were two cars at the same time. A mechanic pressed a button in a situation that would never have happened in a normal pit stop."

Massa said legal action was considered after the events of Singapore '08 were exposed last month, but elected not to pursue it. However he believes Renault should have been stripped of the race win.

"It should have been changed," Massa said.

"I lost the title by one point. I am not, and never will be, a driver who thinks, 'I could have been world champion'. Even if they write today in my C.V. that I am the champion, after a year, I don't think it would make any difference."

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