Felipe Massa infamously missed out on the 2008 drivers’ championship at the hands of Lewis Hamilton. The Brazilian drove a perfect race starting from the pole position to eventually winning the race. Massa was however in for a heartbreak as Hamilton passed Timo Glock in the final lap and won the championship. The 7-time world champion to this day reveres his 2008 rival’s feat.

The 2008 Formula 1 season arguably remains the most thrilling season ever. The title fight went right down to the wire until the final lap of the final race. Lewis Hamilton needed a top-5 finish to secure his maiden title. Massa needed to not just win the race, but also hope Hamilton didn’t finish higher than P6.

Lewis Hamilton reveals the respect he holds for Felipe Massa

The race started after a delayed start because of rain. As the race moved toward the latter stage, it rained again and most drivers came in to get treaded tires. Timo Glock however hoping to gain some places stayed out. While he gained 4 positions from where he was on the starting grid, Lewis passed him in the final lap, much to the disadvantage of Massa. An emotional Massa thumped his chest in front of the home crowd on the podium, a sight that remains one of the most iconic moments in F1’s history.

In a recent conversation with Timo Glock, Lewis admitted his reverence for Massa. He said, “That was such an amazing year for Felipe. For me the most impressive part of the whole year was the end. How he stood on the podium with pride and dignity. He’s a champion in my eyes.”

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Massa, who later appeared for an interview reacted to his emotional podium footage. “Everything changed not because of me, because of what happened in the race behind, with the weather, with the rain and everything else. So, it’s nice also to show to the people when I came out of the car, I was just trying to do myself, to say or show what my heart was telling me in that moment.”

Timo Glock received death threats following the 2008 finale

Glock was accused of slowing down on purpose to let Hamilton pass. However, all accusations came to rest when F1 released the final lap’s footage 5 years back. Timo was clearly struggling for grip to keep the car on the track. However, he suffered at the hands of some toxic fans for years following the race.

Speaking on Beyond the Grid podcast last month, Timo revealed, “It was really shocking how people can treat you in a way where even my parents were scared.” “Getting letters back home, fans saying I should be banned from racing. Even people saying the guy should be killed and stuff like this – it was not nice. Every time when the Brazilian race came up, my Twitter account exploded. It’s still the case sometimes,” he continued.

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Glock however told most responses he receives now are hilarious as he receives the famous commentary moment ‘is that Glock!’ in Tweets.