Disgraced former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr has admitted that Ferrari driver Felipe Massa is still "offended" by his actions during the 2008 Singapore GP weekend, saying that he hadn't spoken to Massa since the 2009 scandal broke.
Piquet Jr was dumped by the Renault team midway through the 2009 season, and shortly afterwards he revealed that the French team had ordered him to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, to trigger a safety car and help his then-team mate Fernando Alonso win the race.
After the Fixgate issue came to light, which saw former Renault bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds banned from the sport, Massa complained vociferously that the result had affected his 2008 championship challenge, claiming that it had been an act of "robbery" by his fellow Brazilian.
Massa had been leading the race before the safety car, but after a refuelling issue at his pit stop under the yellow flag conditions, he dropped out of contention.
He eventually lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by a single championship point.
And Piquet admitted to the oddly-titled Brazilian magazine Istoe that his friendship with Massa had collapsed after the FIxgate farce came to light.
"My relationship with Barrichello and Massa had always been very friendly -- they always treated me very well, gave me a lot of advice," the youngster, now racing semi-regularly in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, said.
"But after Singapore Massa was offended by me, and to this day he thinks he lost the 2008 world championship only because of me."
He added that: "Massa is still completely insulted, I've never spoken with him [since]."
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