According to Nelson Piquet Jr., Felipe Massa still blames him for costing the Ferrari driver the championship in 2008. Telling Istoe Magazine that Massa still harbors a grudge:
“I got along well with him (Massa) and with Rubens Barrichello. Both always treated me very well, gave me tips on track as I knew less. We sat together in the drivers’ meetings.”
“But after Singapore it changed a lot. Massa was very upset with me because he thinks, to this day, that he lost the 2008 Championship because of me.
“It is no use arguing that he had a DNF in Hungary, that he and Ferrari made mistakes. Not to mention his lack of luck.
“For the love of God, that last lap in Interlagos was pure luck for Hamilton and bad luck for him. But he is still very upset. I understand but I don’t suffer much with it anymore.
“I have never talked to him again. We stumble upon each other every now and then but we don’t keep in touch.”
Piquet Jr. was ushered out of F1 after admitting he had purposefully crashed during the 2008 Singapore grand prix in order to allow his teammate, Fernando Alonso, to win. Piquet Jr. does mention Alonso in this article as well and paints a calculating, self-serving opportunist who he likens to Dick Dastardly. Suggesting that he had little choice in the matter and the knock-on effect is the ire of Felpie Massa.
Piquet Jr. have remained focused on NASCAR which he admits was never his goal but as teams have felt comfortable running the BRazilian in the support series, perhaps there is a chance for Piquet to continue racing even if it isn’t in F1.
