Major Felipe Massa update amid $82million legal case over Hamilton 2008 defeat

Part of Felipe Massa’s lawsuit over his 2008 F1 title defeat to Lewis Hamilton can continue, London’s High Court has ruled.

Massa is contesting the outcome of the 2008 world championship, with the former F1 driver’s long-awaited legal case beginning at the High Court in London last month.

Felipe Massa seeking $82million in damages over F1 2008 title defeat

Massa, who is seeking up to $82million (£60m/€68.7m) in damages, famously missed out on the 2008 title to Lewis Hamilton, then of McLaren, by a single point at the final race of the season in Brazil.

The title decider in Massa’s hometown of Sao Paulo came just weeks after the Singapore Grand Prix, the scene of the infamous Crashgate scandal, where Renault instructed its driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately in order to help teammate Fernando Alonso to victory.

Massa, who was leading the race at the time of Piquet’s accident, went on to finish a distant 13th in Singapore, with the lost points proving costly in his title battle with Hamilton.

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Massa announced his intention to take legal proceedings against the FIA, Formula 1’s commercial arm Formula One Management and former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone – all of whom deny the claims – in 2023.

It came hot on the heels of an interview Ecclestone gave to German publication F1 Insider, in which he revealed that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley, who died in 2021, were made aware of the true circumstances behind the Singapore Grand Prix scandal during the 2008 season.

Mr Ecclestone went on to admit the sport’s authorities opted to take no action at the time to protect F1 from “a huge scandal”, expressing his sympathy that Massa was “cheated out of the title he deserved.”

Massa attended a three-day pre-trial hearing in London last month as the case formally began.

In a fresh update, judge Robert Jay has ruled that Massa’s claims for inducement of breach of contract can continue, noting in a summary of his ruling that Massa arguably did not know he could sue until Ecclestone’s interview with F1 Insider was published in 2023.

However, the judge has rejected Massa’s case that the FIA breached its duty to investigate and dismissed his claim for a declaration that he should have won the 2008 title.

The ruling appears to have ended Massa’s slim hopes of being retrospectively crowned the world champion of 2008, with the judge noting that “the court cannot be asked to rewrite the outcome of the 2008 Drivers’ World Championship.”

Massa reiterated his calls for “justice” during a visit to the Brazilian Grand Prix earlier this month, giving an update on proceedings to Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle on the grid at Interlagos.

The 44-year-old said: “Looking forward for the justice.

“I don’t deserve what’s happened to me, to anybody, anybody that is looking for the sport.

“We did what we’re supposed to do with the lawyers in the court and now we wait for the decision.”

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