“Stefano Domenicali seemed surprised by what Jean Todt said too. No one discussed the possibility of challenging the results.”

Crucially, Massa says that he chose to focus on the 2008 title fight with Lewis Hamilton for the rest of that season. He eventually lost out, and the Brit was officially confirmed champion at the FIA prize-giving gala at the end of that year.

However, Massa says that at the start of the 2009 season, his suspicions began to be raised as the ‘Crashgate’ rumours took pace.

“In April 2009 – a few days before the Bahrain Grand Prix – I was in Dubai with Nicolas Todt. I was walking past a restaurant and inside the restaurant I spotted Jean Alesi (a friend and former F1 driver for Benetton) who was having lunch with Flavio Briatore,” he says.

“Jean Alesi and Briatore invited us to sit down with them for lunch. During the lunch, I asked Briatore whether he had asked Nelsinho to crash on purpose at the 2008 Singapore GP.

“Briatore denied that Nelsinho had crashed on purpose. I thought he was probably lying by the way he answered me, but I did not know.

“Again, I spoke with Jean Todt, Nicolas Todt and Stefano Domenicali about my talk with Flavio Briatore but they said again that it was just talk, and we could not take any action.”

Piquet Jr had been induced by Briatore and Symonds to cause the ’08 Singapore accident due to being under pressure to get his contract renewed. They in turn were trying to convince the Renault board of committing to the team’s long-term future, and felt a race win was needed to do so – hence the attempt to manipulate the grand prix.

A year later and Piquet Jr was under the same pressure again with his F1 seat in jeopardy, and Massa says he spoke to the Brazilian around that time.

“In July 2009, several F1 drivers organised to do a day of go-karting in Italy,” Massa recalls.

“I travelled with Nelsinho to the go-karting event by plane, and I asked him directly if he had crashed on purpose in Singapore.

“Nelsinho denied crashing on purpose but the way he answered me didn’t convince me he was telling the truth.

“Still, I did not know for sure and I did not have any information to indicate that he had.”

As word of the scandal eventually broke during the 2009 Belgian GP weekend, Massa was by this time recuperating having suffered a life-threatening crash at the Hungarian GP a month prior to that.

“When I saw the news, I called Jean Todt straightaway, the crash was big news and I wanted us to do something,” Massa recounts. “I said to him that I wanted Ferrari to fight the 2008 championship results.

“I remember Jean Todt arranged some calls with Ferrari’s lawyer, Professor Henry Peter, who was based at a law firm in Lugano, Switzerland.

“Henry Peter was not my lawyer but I understood at the time that he advised a Ferrari company: Gestione Sportive Automobiles SA (GSA).

“My driver contract arrangements with Ferrari included agreements with GSA and Henry Peter’s firm helped me with those things, including dealing with the paperwork for those contracts.

“Without further waiver of privilege, Henry Peter said that because the 2008 championship award ceremony had already happened, the results could not be changed.

“He said I could not bring a claim to change the results of the 2008 championship. I never received any written advice from Henry Peter but I trusted what he said on the calls.”

The defence against Massa’s claims questions why the Brazilian didn’t do more to further his case at the time, but the former Ferrari driver says he was told repeatedly by the Scuderia’s legal representatives that there was nothing he could do.

The hearing continues.