Sep.18 (GMM) A high ranking FIA official reportedly knew about the 'crash-gate' allegations as long ago as the 2008 season finale in Brazil last year.
Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper on Friday published a transcript of Nelson Piquet Snr's August 17 interview with Quest investigators, commissioned by F1's governing body, about the scandal.
In the interview, Piquet revealed that after learning from his son about the deliberate crash only days after the September 2008 event, he told his former Brabham colleague Charlie Whiting "the whole story".
Today, Whiting is the FIA's safety and technical delegate and F1 race director and starter, and therefore the first point of contact between formula one teams and the Paris federation.
At Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team in the 1980s, he worked as a senior mechanic and engineer with the team's then driver Piquet.
"Anyway in Brazil I talk to Charlie ... I got him and I said 'Look, what could happen to Nelson if I bring this up?' And I was afraid to screw up the career of Nelson (Jr)," Piquet said.
"... in the race in Brazil I called Charlie and I told the whole story to Charlie."
Max Mosley said at Monza last weekend that, despite earlier hearing rumours, the governing body could only move on the affair when Piquet Jr made an official declaration.
But the FIA president also said he only learned about the Piquet family's actual allegations in July of this year.
Multiple media reports said the FIA did not comment.
