Massa teams up with Glock for Interlagos Stock Car ‘doubles race’

In the 2008 F1 title decider, race winner Massa crossed the line as world champion for Ferrari but Lewis Hamilton subsequently passed Glock – who was struggling for grip on dry tyres on a wet track – for the fifth place he needed to take the title away.

Since that incident, Glock was blamed in some quarters for his part in the outcome. The pair only spoke of what happened 13 years later in a piece on Sky Sports F1, where Massa said he never thought for a moment that Glock had done anything intentionally to influence the outcome against him.

This was underlined as they watched an onboard video of how much Glock was struggling to keep his car on the track, while Timo revealed that the podium ceremony preparations had effectively closed the pit lane and he’d been told to stay out.

Massa had never seen the onboard footage before, and Glock said he was completely unaware that’d he’d decided the outcome of the championship but that “there are still people out there who think I did it on purpose” and that his parents had received threatening letters at home.

Massa said: “I never had anything against Timo, I never thought he would have done anything against me intentionally. Anyone who understands motorsport knows that he had nothing to do in those conditions.”

After putting his arm around Glock and then hugging in their interview, Massa decided to take their new friendship to another level by inviting Glock to partner him in the doubles race at Interlagos, which is the traditional season-opener of the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series. They will share the #19 Chevrolet Cruze run by the Lubrax Podium team.

“I had this idea at the end of last year, after we met at the Brazilian GP,” said Massa. “I shared it with my sponsors, who soon agreed. Besides what it means to form a team with Timo within the entire context of motorsport, it is clear that we are also looking for a positive result.

“I am already in direct contact with him, passing on all possible information.”

The Stock Car doubles race takes place next Sunday, at 1:55 pm (local time), and will be shown worldwide on Motorsport TV.

Massa's invitation was quickly accepted by Glock: “I'm very happy to be able to go to Sao Paulo and be Felipe's partner in the Stock Car. It will be exciting and a very special weekend for me.

“I follow the Stock Car championship. You can see that it is a difficult car to drive, but Felipe has already sent me some onboard camera images, so that I can understand the car. It will be a lot of fun, because the championship has ‘big names’ and many fast drivers. I hope I can drive fast too.”