Crashgate is one of the biggest scandals. It occurred during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, when Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on purpose to help his teammate. At first, it looked like a simple mistake, but it soon turned into a major scandal.

Crashgate happened at the first Singapore Grand Prix. Renault driver Fernando Alonso qualified P16 after a mechanical problem, but his car was fast that weekend. Renault decided to give him less fuel and hoped a safety car would come out.

During the warm-up lap, Nelson Piquet Jr crashed in the same spot where he would crash again later in the race. He asked over the radio if “that was okay,” but radio rules were different back then, so no one noticed.

During the race, Alonso pits to get new tyres and refuel, as F1 at the time allowed refuelling during the race. At the same time, Piquet is out on track, crashing, which brings out the safety car.

This allows Alonso to take the lead of the race, which he goes on to win.  

The intention behind the crash did not come to light until a year later, but suspicions arose after the race. The first person to find out outside of Renault is Nelson Piquet Sr, Junior’s father and a former world champion.

Piquet Senior calls to ask his son about the crash, and Junior tells him that it was planned and that he had to do it to stay a part of the team. 

In the last three races following Singapore, there is a title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, which goes down to the last race in Brazil. At the Brazil Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet Sr goes to Charlie Whiting, the race director at the time, and an old friend of Senior’s, for a chat, and Senior tells him what happened, that Flavio Briatore. 

Renault’s team principal made his son crash. Piquet Senior tells Whiting not to tell anyone, but knows that Whiting is bound to tell someone.  

Whiting goes on to tell Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, who decides that there wasn’t enough evidence for the FIA to launch a formal investigation, as it was just Junior’s word

The 2009 season goes on just fine until summer break comes, and Nelson Piquet Jr is dropped from Renault. That is when his father goes to tell Max Mosley what happened, but he is given the same response as Charles Whiting. 

The FIA decides to send investigators to the Belgian Grand Prix in 2009, and it is only then that they determine there is a case to bring to the World Motorsport Council.

The first person the investigators question is Fernando Alonso because they figured there was no way he didn’t know about the situation, yet we still aren’t certain whether he knew anything. Eventually, despite Renault officials still denying it, the investigators are able to piece the conspiracy together.

After taking the evidence to the World Motorsport Council, they decided to ban Flavio Briatore from FIA events for life, though he later returned to F1 as Alpine team principal. Pat Symonds, Renault’s chief engineer, received a five-year ban. Renault was also given a suspended disqualification.

While it seems like the story would end there, in 2023, Bernie Ecclestone, chairman of the Formula One Group, came out and said that he and Max Mosley knew about Crashgate during the 2008 season and that they could’ve launched an investigation much sooner, but didn’t. This was an attempt to save F1 from the scandal. So, because of this and the rule that, after the FIA award ceremony, the results are set in stone, they waited to launch the investigation.

If the results of the Singapore Grand Prix were cancelled like they should have been in that scenario, then Felipe Massa would have been the 2008 World Champion, not Lewis Hamilton, given that the outcome of the other races stayed the same. Because of this Felipe Massa is in an ongoing legal battle to try to gain something in return.