2008 Singapore Grand Prix — Formula One race on 28 September 2008 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore
The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was the first Formula One World Championship race held at night and was later exposed as the sport's most significant deliberate-crash scandal.
Key Facts
- Race date
- 28 September 2008
- Circuit
- Marina Bay Street Circuit
- Championship race number
- 800th F1 World Championship race overall
- Race winner
- Fernando Alonso (Renault), starting 15th
- Deliberate crash lap
- Lap 14 by Nelson Piquet Jr.
- Briatore ban
- Banned for life from FIA-sanctioned events (later overturned)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds instructed Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash his car on lap 14, immediately after teammate Fernando Alonso had made his pit stop, with the aim of triggering a safety car period that would allow Alonso to cycle to the front of the field from his early pit stop.
The 61-lap night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit saw Alonso win from 15th on the grid after Piquet's staged crash brought out the safety car. The leading drivers, including pole-sitter Felipe Massa, pitted but Massa left his pit box with the fuel hose still attached, dropping to last. Nico Rosberg finished second and Lewis Hamilton third, extending Hamilton's championship lead by seven points over Massa.
In September 2009, Renault admitted the crash was deliberate. The team received a suspended disqualification, Briatore was banned for life, and Symonds for five years, though both bans were later overturned by a French court. The scandal, known as 'Crashgate,' became one of Formula One's most serious cases of race manipulation. Alonso maintained he had no knowledge of the plan.