Felipe Massa $82m court case deemed ‘torturous’ as legal attempt to topple Lewis Hamilton doomed ‘to fail’

Felipe Massa’s $82 million legal claim over the 2008 Formula 1 ‘Crashgate’ scandal has officially begun at the High Court in London.

Lawyers representing Formula One Management, former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, and the FIA moved on the opening day of proceedings to have the Brazilian’s case dismissed.

Felipe Massa labelled a ‘misguided attempt’ to reopen 2008 wounds

Massa finished as runner-up in the F1 2008 championship, and has followed through on his threat to challenge for the title in the court room, as he alleges that Formula 1’s governing bodies covered up evidence relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

This infamous race saw the events of ‘Crashgate’ unfold, when Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed his Renault to benefit teammate Fernando Alonso. With Massa’s race ruined by a Ferrari pit error during the Safety Car period caused by Piquet’s deliberate crash, Massa’s argument is that this cover-up cost him the world championship, which Lewis Hamilton won by a single point.

Piquet admitted in 2009 that he had been instructed to crash by team management, following his dismissal from Renault’s driver line-up by team boss Flavio Briatore, resulting in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix becoming one of the most controversial races in modern history due to the proven deliberate interference.

Massa filed a case last year following remarks F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made in a 2023 interview with F1-Insider, in which he said he and then-FIA President, the late Max Mosley, had known the crash was deliberate but chose not to act to “protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal.”

As reported by the UK’s The Times on Wednesday, Ecclestone, who turned 95 this week, was represented by his lawyer David Quest, who said that the former F1 supremo, “does not remember giving this interview.”

Massa’s legal team claim Ecclestone and Mosley already knew about the deliberate crash and failed to investigate.

Nick De Marco KC, representing Massa, said in written submissions that the case should proceed to a full trial as the defendants “cannot establish that Mr Massa’s claims have no real prospect of success.”

“Mr Massa has a real prospect of succeeding on all of the grounds,” De Marco added, arguing that “whether the FIA breached its duties is a fact-sensitive issue, on which the court should not conduct a mini trial.”

The hearing, overseen by Mr. Justice Jay, is expected to conclude on Friday, with a ruling to follow at a later date.

Massa’s argument contends that, if the results of the Singapore Grand Prix, as a race with proven interference, had been annulled, Hamilton’s points total would be less than Massa’s, making the Brazilian the World Champion for the season.

The defence argued that Massa’s claim has been filed too late and that his and Ferrari’s own errors in Singapore cost him the race.

Among them was a disastrous pitstop during the Safety Car period, when Massa drove off with the fuel hose still attached, knocking over a crew member and forcing him to rejoin the track behind several cars.

Massa was in court as Quest told the judge that the Brazilian had “performed very poorly” in Singapore, finishing 13th and scoring no points.

The defence maintained Massa could have brought a claim in 2008 or 2009 and that it is now too late to reopen the case. They also argued that the declaration Massa seeks would unfairly impact Hamilton, who is not a party to the proceedings and whose 2008 championship was the first of his seven titles.

Massa’s team insists he only became aware of grounds for legal action in 2023, following Ecclestone’s remarks to F1-Insider, suggesting the FIA knew of the deliberate crash and chose not to investigate.

In written submissions, Quest said Massa’s claims “are a misguided attempt to reopen the results of the 2008 F1 Drivers’ championship” and would “deprive Mr. Hamilton of his 2008 title” despite the British driver being “equally exposed to the crash.”

John Mehrzad KC, representing the FIA, was succinct in his comments, describing the claim as “as torturous as it is overly ambitious” and said it “conspicuously overlooks a catalogue of his own errors.”

Everything you need to know about Felipe Massa’s court case

👉 Explained: Why is Felipe Massa legally challenging Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 World title?

👉 Felipe Massa not in ‘a fight with Lewis Hamilton’ amid F1 2008 title court battle

Anneliese Day KC, for Formula One Management, said in her submissions that Massa’s case “will fail.”

“In truth, it was not the deployment of the Safety Car which changed the course of history for Mr. Massa, but rather a series of subsequent racing errors by him and his team during the remaining 47 laps of the race,” she wrote.

“The simple fact is that over the course of both the Singapore Grand Prix and across the 2008 season, Mr. Hamilton outperformed Mr. Massa and everyone else.”

The hearing continues, with a decision expected in the coming weeks.

Massa, speaking to PlanetF1.com in late 2023 following the reveal of his intent to pursue legal action, revealed his motives.

“Since the very first interview, I’ve said I’m here to be recognised as World Champion,” he said.

“This is the most important thing for me, this is our target, this is my target that I will fight until the end to be recognised as World Champion for 2008.

“Everything that we are doing is not against Lewis. I mean, I really respect Lewis as a driver for everything that he’s done, he’s one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1. So many records, with many titles.

“But what I’m doing is against the result of a manipulated race. At the point in the race where the manipulation happened, I was leading, I was first in that race. So it’s nothing against Lewis.

“I really like Lewis as a driver and he’s doing a lot of things for justice, so many different kinds of justice in the world. I think, one time, he will need to speak and to talk about the situation. I think it’s pretty clear I’m not doing anything against him.

“I’m doing it against the justice of the sport. When I am at home, and I see my phone after the Bernie Ecclestone interview, after the Charlie Whiting interview in the Max Mosley documentary that he knew at the last race of the season at Interlagos what happened in the Singapore race and after my son knew about it – he asked me ‘you are not doing anything?’

“So I’m doing that for justice. I really believe what I’m doing is correct because this is not acceptable. We’re not talking about a broken engine, or someone pushing me out of the race. We’re not talking about the sporting situation, we’re talking about the manipulation that changed the result.”

Read Next: Liberty Media announce major change in leadership as F1 Group impact revealed