Felipe Massa gives update on legal case over Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 F1 title
Lawyers on behalf of the former Ferrari driver filed suit against F1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone in March
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Felipe Massa insists the “truth will come out” amid his legal case against Formula 1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone over the 2008 title won by Lewis Hamilton – but the ex-Ferrari driver could not divulge when the case will conclude
The Brazilian is seeking an admission that the sport’s lawmakers failed to adequately investigate the 2008 ‘Crashgate’ scandal. The subsequent impact the inaugural race in Singapore had on that year’s championship was clear after Hamilton won on the final lap of the final race as then-Ferrari star Massa missed out by a single point.
New comments in 2023, by Ecclestone, about the scandal in Singapore encouraged Massa to take legal action, with his lawyers sending an eight-page ‘Letter Before Claim’ to F1 and the FIA last August, alleging their client was the “victim of a conspiracy”.
Having not received an appropriate response, Massa confirmed in March that his lawyers have filed suit in London’s High Court. The 43-year-old is seeking more than £62m ($80m) in damages and an admission that the FIA violated their own regulations in not properly investigating Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash. Massa believes that if the crash was appropriately scrutinised, he would have been crowned 2008 champion over Hamilton.
In new comments, ex-Ferrari driver Massa added that the financial strain of such a legal battle – which has now been ongoing for five months – is “very expensive” but maintains his willingness for “justice” to emerge.
"I hope the correct thing happens, for justice, for something that was not part of the sport that punished me big time,” Massa told RacingNews365.
"This is what we are fighting for, which I believe is correct, especially after 16 years and on hearing things which you never thought it was really like that.
"After that, I decided to put a big team together, professional people, divided by many different countries. They really believe it was not fair what happened, for the sport, and I definitely paid.
"When we heard Bernie’s comment last year, after that we started to put things together, and we started to fight, to analyse things In the professional, legal way because it was not part of the sport."
Despite the ongoing legal case, Massa could not divulge when proceedings will conclude but is adamant the “truth comes out.”
"I never thought I was going to be part of such a thing in my life," he added. "It’s not easy. It’s also very expensive, a lot of money, so I really hope things finish soon.
"But we’ve been waiting so long now for justice, we have to hope the truth comes out and there will be justice."
‘Crashgate’ rocked Formula 1 when the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 saw Renault’s Fernando Alonso win the race before it emerged that his teammate, Piquet Jr, had deliberately crashed to bring out a safety car that played into Alonso’s hands.
That safety car prompted a Massa pit stop that Ferrari mishandled, with Massa eventually finishing the race 13th while Hamilton came home third – a difference of six points, a swing which ultimately impacted the title result.
While Renault and team boss Flavio Briatore were punished in 2009, the result of the race stood despite Massa’s protestations, with the FIA’s statutes making clear that overturning the classification from each season is impossible once the FIA Awards Ceremony for that year is complete, a rule set in the FIA International Sporting Code.
Ecclestone revealed last March that both he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew of the ‘Crashgate’ scandal in 2008 but refused to publicise the chain of events to avoid the sport a “huge scandal”.
He has since said he could not remember saying the key lines, telling Reuters: “I don’t remember any of this, to be honest. I don’t remember giving the interview for sure.”
Ecclestone had told F1-Insider earlier in 2023: “We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal. That’s why I used angelic tongues to persuade my former driver Nelson Piquet to keep calm for the time being.
“Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton was presented with the trophy and everything was fine.
“We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions.
“That means it would never have happened for the championship standings. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.”
Last August, before the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton said on the matter: “I’ve got a really bad memory. I’m really just focused on the here and now and helping the team get back to the championship. I’m not focused on what happened 15 years ago.”
Despite the ongoing legal action, Massa does not seem able to officially overturn the result – with the FIA’s own International Sporting Code stating protests and reviews expire 14 days after a competition and four days prior to that year’s prize-giving ceremony.
Massa’s best-finish in F1 turned out to be that 2008 season as he retired in 2017 while Hamilton has gone on to win six more titles with Mercedes, holding the joint-record of seven F1 World Championships with Michael Schumacher. Hamilton, now 39, will join Ferrari next year.