F1 News: Massa files lawsuit to take stolen ’08 title from Hamilton (9th Update)
Bernie Ecclestone was quoted as saying by the Guardian on Monday: “If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong.”
(GMM) Felipe Massa has followed through on his threat to sue Formula 1 for “justice” relating the outcome of the 2008 world championship.
The former Ferrari driver, who has been absent in his role as a part-time F1 ambassador over the controversy, began his quest for a review of the circumstances surrounding the ‘crashgate’ scandal following comments made by ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone last year.
Ecclestone said the sport had “enough information in time to investigate the matter” in 2008 and “cancel the (results of the) race in Singapore” prior to Lewis Hamilton being cemented in place as the champion of that season.
“Attempts to find an amicable resolution have been unsuccessful,” Massa’s lawyers have now declared, “leaving Mr Massa with no choice but to initiate legal proceedings.”
Those legal proceedings have now been filed in London’s High Court.
“Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA’s failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit,” the lawyers added.
Reports in the British newspapers cited a document showing that Massa, 42, is seeking at least $82 million.
And although Ecclestone is among those being sued, he was quoted as saying by the Guardian on Monday: “If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong.”
Some, though, have heavily criticized the Brazilian driver for sour grapes.
Although FIA and Liberty Media-run F1 declined to comment, Massa told Brazilian broadcaster Globo on Monday: “I always said I would fight until the end.
“As the FIA and FOM have decided to do nothing, we will seek redress of this historic injustice in the courts. The matter is now with the lawyers and they are fully authorized to do whatever is necessary so that justice in the sport is done.”
March 11, 2024
Felipe Massa has expanded his lawsuit over the 2008 Singapore GP. Massa has filed a lawsuit in the London High Court against the FIA, FOM and Bernie Ecclestone over the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix ‘crashgate’ scandal.
On Monday, representatives of Massa confirmed that action has been lodged in the High Court of Justice against the three parties as the Brazilian, who missed out on the 2008 F1 drivers’ title to then-McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton by one point, believes that the result of the Marina Bay race should be voided.
According to a statement from Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados, “Mr Massa is seeking declarations that the FIA breached its regulations by failing to promptly investigate Nelson Piquet Junior’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and that had it acted properly.
“Mr Massa would have won the drivers’ championship that year. Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA’s failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit.”
“Attempts to find an amicable resolution have been unsuccessful, leaving Mr Massa with no choice but to initiate legal proceedings.”
Reportedly, Massa is seeking compensation worth between $80-200 million.
December 17, 2023
(GMM) Felipe Massa may well be successful in his quest for justice some 15 years after Formula 1’s disgraceful ‘crashgate’ scandal of 2008.
That is the view of former FIA president Jean Todt, whose predecessor Max Mosley was in charge when Renault bosses conspired to steal victory at Singapore in 2008 by ordering Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash.
“According to Bernie Ecclestone, Max Mosley, my predecessor, and Charlie Whiting, who was the race director of Formula 1 at the time, were in the know from the very beginning,” Todt, also the former Ferrari boss whose son Nicholas was Massa’s manager, told the French sports daily L’Equipe.
The 77-year-old insists he had no such similar knowledge about the scandal when he became FIA president.
“I was not informed about this,” Todt said. “But the completely new fact, if it is true and can be verified, is that the regulatory body that runs the championship knew about it.”
Massa, who claims he should be 2008 world champion rather than Lewis Hamilton, is threatening legal action against the FIA and F1 if the ‘crashgate’ wrongs are not now corrected.
“Unfortunately, Charlie and Max have passed away,” Todt said.
“The rule at the FIA has always been that results of the world championship must be ratified before December 31 and then we never retract them.
“But in the case of Singapore 2008, the facts were not revealed until a year later and the sanctions imposed by the FIA before my arrival were annulled by the court in Paris,” he added.
“Finding out that the federation knew the truth before this famous December 31 could change things.”
December 6, 2023
Felipe Massa’s lawsuit against the FIA to get back the 2008 F1 title he deserves got a shot in the arm today when Ex-FIA president Jean Todt said F1 “could have been tougher” with how they handled the controversy around the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Speaking to La Stampa, Todt gave his view on Massa’s legal pursuit.
“I don’t get into the controversy,” he said. “For him [Massa] psychologically it was very hard.
“Maybe we could have been tougher when this story was known.
“There is no doubt that the Singapore Grand Prix was rigged and had to be cancelled.”
October 17, 2023
(GMM) Felipe Massa’s deadline for Formula 1 and the FIA to respond to his threat of legal action has been extended once again.
Recently, former F1 personality Eddie Jordan urged Brazilian Massa, now 42, to stop his crusade to be crowned the retrospective world champion of 2008 over the ‘crashgate’ scandal.
“If it was me, I’d turn the page my man,” Jordan said on his Formula For Success podcast.
Former Ferrari driver Massa, however, is refusing to do that, telling Infobae this week that F1 and the FIA “robbed me” of the 2008 crown because they knew all along that Nelson Piquet jr had crashed on purpose in Singapore.
“They didn’t do anything because they didn’t want to destroy the name of F1,” he said.
“We have prepared a large legal team with lawyers from six countries and we are going to fight until the end because what happened was not fair for the sport, for me, for my country, for the fans, for Ferrari,” Massa added.
The deadline outlined in Massa’s initial letter of demand to F1 and the FIA had already been extended to mid-October – and now it has been extended for yet another month.
“The FIA and FOM are completing an internal investigation and have requested a final extension of the initially requested deadline, from October 12 to November 15,” Massa’s lawyer Bernardo Viana confirmed.
“We agreed to this latest period because if the new administration actually examines the issue in good faith, it will certainly come to the same conclusion as us and so many people around the world.”
Massa continued to explain to Infobae: “We will see the response they give us and if we are going to go to court or a tribunal.”
He rejected former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s claim that his push for justice is actually all about money.
“For sure in the fight there is money to claim,” Massa said. “But I base the claim on the championship. The trophy is the most important thing for me.”
October 14, 2023
While Bernie Ecclestone was in court this weekend on fraud charges that he pleaded guilty to, one must remember the kind of person that was running F1 at the time of the 2008 Singapore GP.
Lawyers for Brazilian Felipe Massa have given Formula 1 and the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) another month to respond to threatened court action over the 2008 World Championship.
The former Ferrari driver, now 42, alleges a “conspiracy” denied him the 2008 F1 Title.
A mid-October deadline had been set for Formula 1 and the FIA to respond to an August 15 Letter Before Claim, but lawyer Bernardo Viana said in a statement on Thursday that an extension had been agreed.
“FIA and FOM (Formula One Management) are completing an internal investigation and have requested one last extension to the deadline they initially asked for, from October 12th to November 15th,” he said.
“We have agreed to this final period because if the new administration is indeed looking into the matter in good faith, they will certainly reach the same conclusion we and so many people around the world have,” Viana added.
The extension means the deadline is now after the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit on November 5.
September 13, 2023
(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has hit out at Felipe Massa for daring to mount a legal challenge to the outcome of the 2008 world championship.
Brazilian Massa, now retired from Formula 1 and 42, admits that it was former F1 CEO Ecclestone’s admission that key figures knew about the ‘crashgate’ scandal before the 2008 ended that triggered his push for justice.
“We want to bring home the trophy,” Massa’s lawyer Bernardo Viana is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport this week.
“It’s not about money. As Ecclestone himself admitted, the results of (the 2008) Singapore (GP) should have been cancelled completely.”
If that had happened, Massa would mathematically have been the 2008 world champion – rather than Lewis Hamilton, who officially won by a single point.
92-year-old former F1 supremo Ecclestone, however, questions Massa’s motives.
“The Massa clan is only interested in the money,” he told Roger Benoit, the veteran correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick.
“Hamilton and Mercedes could also have filed a lawsuit against the FIA after the not-very-clean finale in Abu Dhabi in 2021,” Ecclestone added.
September 12, 2023
Massa’s legal team have now sent preservation notices on documentation to several associated parties in the case.
Ferrari, the team Massa raced with in 2008, have received such a notice, as have Alpine (the current iteration of the Renault F1 team).
Renault’s 2008 title sponsor ING, and former team boss Flavio Briatore are also named, as are F1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds (Renault’s then-executive director of engineering) and FIA sporting director Steve Nielsen (then-sporting director at Renault).
The notices, which have been seen by PlanetF1.com, instruct all the parties that they have a duty to the court to ensure the preservation of any relevant documentation under their control that may be relevant to the proceedings.
A preservation notice is an instruction to ensure documentation is not deleted, destroyed, altered or annotated in any fashion.
Any and all documentation and information pertinent to the case, which could include sponsorship agreements, clauses, renewals, communications with FOM and the FIA about the events of 2008 and ’09, and any documentation regarding the investigation into Renault and the World Motor Sport Council’s reportage are also to be retained.
With Massa making it clear in recent interviews that he is seeking justice for his title loss, his legal team’s position is that nothing less than the Brazilian being declared 2008 World Champion is the outcome being sought.
If successful, Lewis Hamilton will go from being a 7-time World Champion to a six-timer.
September 5, 2023
Felipe Massa was not present at the Italian Grand Prix but expressed his determination to “fight” for what he believes is his title.
“I have one certainty: that title is mine, and it is Ferrari’s 16th drivers’ title,” he told the Italian state broadcaster TG1. It is clear that Massa wants the 2008 title stripped from Lewis Hamilton and awarded to him.
“I have hired a team of very strong lawyers. We will fight to the end to obtain justice in this sport. I don’t understand why a case of manipulation cannot be verified in the way right, even if a year, two years or 15 years later.”
“At this moment I have not yet had the support of Ferrari, but I expect help from them,” the 42-year-old suggested. “I am optimistic: I will fight for the justice until the end.”
August 17, 2023
7-time Formula 1 World Driving Champion Lewis Hamilton may soon be only a 6-time champion if Felipe Massa prevails in court.
Felipe Massa’s team have started legal proceedings against FOM and the FIA over the 2008 title. They feel that Lewis Hamilton is an illegitimate 2008 champion.
Reuters says it has seen a ‘Letter Before Claim’ addressed to F1 chief Stefano Domenicali – who was Massa’s Ferrari team boss at the time – and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, which was issued on Tuesday this week.
They are seeking compensation for damages, the Letter Before Claim reads as follows:
“Simply put, Mr Massa is the rightful 2008 Driver’s Champion, and F1 and the FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that cheated him.”
“Mr Massa is unable to fully quantify his losses at this stage but estimates that they are likely to exceed tens of millions of Euros.
“This amount does not cover the serious moral and reputational losses suffered by Mr Massa.”
It warned that, without a satisfactory response to his potential claims, Massa intended to “pursue legal action in order to seek compensation for the harm he has suffered as well as recognition that, but for those unlawful acts, he would have been awarded the 2008 Championship.”
Massa was leading the 2008 Singapore GP when Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed on the instruction of his Renault team bosses and caused a safety car period that played into his team-mate Fernando Alonso’s strategy, setting Alonso up for victory.
Ferrari fumbled Massa’s pitstop under that safety car as he was released with the fuel hose still attached. That also meant a penalty for an unsafe release, and he fell to 13th.
He eventually lost the 2008 title to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton – who finished second to Alonso in Singapore – by just one point.
When the scandal was uncovered a year later, Renault was given a suspended disqualification from F1 and team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were banned from motorsport involvement, indefinitely in Briatore’s case – a punishment he later had overturned – and for five years for Symonds.