Felipe Massa’s Lawsuit Throws Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 Title Comes Under Question

Formula 1 is a highly controversial sport with millions of dollars on the line. The current biggest controversy in the sport is Christian Horner’s investigation surrounding his alleged “inappropriate behavior”. Hopefully, this will come to an end soon. But while this fiasco is under the spotlight, Felipe Massa resurfaced an issue that he has been unable to let go of.

Everyone remembers the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix right? The one where Massa was denied the chance of becoming a world champion because of Renault’s controversial strategy to get Alonso on the podium. This is because the race put him behind in points to Lewis Hamilton, who claimed the title that year. Although the 2024 season is underway, Massa has revisited the issue, trying to claim the losses he had to bear.

Felipe Massa’s decision to sue Formula One

Felipe Massa believes he was unfairly denied the 2008 Formula One World Championship due to the outcome of the Singapore Grand Prix, where Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed to benefit his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso. Massa has reportedly initiated legal action against Formula One Management and the FIA, alleging that they ignored the incident that cheated him out of the title.

Massa’s legal action stems from a translated interview with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone on a German website. The intimated Ecclestone and then FIA president Max Mosley had known Piquet’s crash was deliberate at the time but chose to cover it up.

The lawsuit seeks to establish his rightful claim to the 2008 drivers’ championship and demands compensation for the loss of earnings resulting from missing out on the title. Massa’s team has issued a letter before the claim, warning of potential legal proceedings if a satisfactory response is not received within 14 days.

The Brazilian driver claims that the loss of the championship resulted in significant financial losses, including potential bonuses in his Ferrari contract and future commercial opportunities. The exact quantification of these losses may be challenging but is estimated to exceed tens of millions of euros.

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What Massa needs now is that the entire Singapore Grand Prix result should be nullified, which would result in him being declared world champion since Lewis Hamilton would lose his points for finishing third. This infamous event was named Crashgate in the F1 world and is an incident that is being revisited after almost 16 years. As we know, Renault continued to race under that name until 2020, so what happened to them back then?

What exactly was Renault’s role in this?

Back then, Renault team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds decided to orchestrate the crash by instructing Nelson Piquet to crash to bring out the safety car. This meant a soft restart of the race which closed in the time gap which Fernando Alonso took advantage of to win the race.

The FOM was in on it with Bernie Eccleston letting the incident pass. Renault’s 2008 crash, was later termed as a safety hazard for the audience, other drivers, and Piquet himself. The scandal was dealt with through legal procedures in 2009 in which the bosses confessed the plan they asked the driver to implement.

Following the revelation of the scandal, Renault faced consequences, including a suspended disqualification from F1 and bans for team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. However, Massa and Ferrari chose not to pursue legal resolutions at the time. But now 16 years later, the Brazilian is back to try to claim what he was denied by another team’s wrongdoing.

Do you think the FOM and FIA will pay for the damages or take this to court? And considering Massa is taking legal action, do you think the court will rule his compensation? Let us know what you think will happen in the comments below.

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