Massa 2008 Crashgate lawsuit

Felipe Massa’s lawyers announce a lawsuit against F1, the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, seeking justice for the 2008 Crashgate scandal’s impact on the world championship title.

Felipe Massa’s legal representatives have confirmed the filing of a lawsuit against F1, the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone in court. Since last year, the Brazilian has been seeking compensation for the Crashgate scandal, which he blames for his loss of the 2008 world championship title.

Last year, Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss at the time of the scandal involving Renault, disclosed that he and Max Mosley, then FIA president, were aware of the French team’s actions, having instructed Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash to secure a victory for Fernando Alonso at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Massa believes this race should not count and should be entirely nullified. This would grant him the title, more than 15 years after the event. He argues that he should have finished higher, even though losing points to Lewis Hamilton was equally due to Ferrari’s pit stop blunder.

“Mr. Massa is requesting the FIA to declare that it breached its own regulations by not promptly investigating Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,” stated the former driver’s lawyers.

“Mr. Massa would have won the drivers’ championship that year. Mr. Massa is also seeking damages for the significant financial loss he suffered due to the FIA’s failure, in which Mr. Ecclestone and the FOM were also complicit.”

Thus, they confirm their intention to legally reclaim the world title and compensation: “As attempts at an amicable resolution have failed, Mr. Massa had no choice but to initiate legal proceedings.”

However, there is no precedent in the history of the sport for the outright cancellation of a race and its results after the fact. Even if Alonso and Renault were to be disqualified, it would not alter the outcome, since Hamilton finished ahead of him in that Grand Prix.