Felipe Massa has claimed that Ferrari wrote to the former F1 driver in 2009 "reprimanding" him from speaking publicly about Fernando Alonso.
The claim was made in the Brazilian's witness statement, in support of his trial against F1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone over 'Crashgate'.
Alonso inherited victory in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix as a result of Nelson Piquet Jr. purposefully crashing at the Marina Bay Circuit.
A year after the incident, Massa told journalists that he was convinced Alonso knew what had happened, before receiving a letter from Ferrari which tried to ban him from speaking about the Spanish driver.
The letter was sent to Massa ahead of the two-time champion joining the Scuderia in 2010, a signing he discovered ahead of his horrific crash in Hungary which fractured his skull.
As revealed by Massa, he refused to sign the letter, instead taking a different approach to dealing with the situation.
"In October 2009 I also told journalists that I believed Fernando Alonso (the other Renault driver who won because of Nelson's crash) knew it was on purpose," Massa said in his witness statement.
"When Ferrari found out, GSA (the firm who handled the team's contracts) wrote me a letter on 16 October 2009 reprimanding me about making public comments about Fernando Alonso.
"I found out before my accident in July 2009 that Alonso would drive for Ferrari in the 2010 F1 season.
"The letter was signed by Henry Peter (a Ferrari lawyer). Ferrari then drafted a statement for me to issue but I refused to make that statement. Instead, I just said that it was time to look to the future."
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