The lawsuit filed by Felipe Massa to invalidate the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship will take place from October 28 to 31. The former Brazilian F1 driver claims that he was unfairly robbed of the world title due to the infamous Crashgate incident.
During the final race of that season, in his birthplace of São Paulo, the Brazilian believed for a moment that he was the world champion. He did what he had to do: cross the finish line first, after which his team, Ferrari, began to celebrate. However, in the changing conditions, Timo Glock could not keep up, allowing Lewis Hamilton to overtake the German in the last corner. Thus, it was not Massa, but Hamilton who claimed his first world title as the flag fell.
Preceding this was the notorious Crashgate. During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed, after which his teammate Fernando Alonso won the race. It later emerged that the crash was intentional, designed to increase Alonso’s chances of victory. The Safety Car entered the track, after which Felipe Massa dived into the pits. There, things went wrong: he left with the fuel hose still attached to his Ferrari, losing valuable positions. Had this controversial race not influenced the championship, Massa would have ended with a five-point lead over Hamilton.
Touches the Essence of the Sport
After comments in April 2023 by former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who admitted to having known more at the time than was reported, the debate about the 2008 World Championship began to resurface. Massa took the matter to court and submitted a sixty-page document in which he and his lawyers detailed the charges point by point.’I’ve already discussed this with Bernie. And when I took the matter to court, he gave an interview in which he fully agreed with me. In fact, he even said that if I had asked him, he would have advised me to do the same, and that in his eyes, the 2008 title belongs to me. So Bernie said what he had to say.’
Acknowledgment
The case is now going to court. Felipe Massa, direct representatives from the FOM and the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone are expected to attend the hearing, which will take place from October 28 to 31. Felipe Massa is demanding $82 million in damages from the FIA, Formula 1, and Bernie Ecclestone for the missed prize money and lost income as the world champion in Formula 1. “Justice, the recognition as the official Formula 1 World Champion of 2008, is something I have to fight for. And I am,” says Massa. “Can you imagine what it would have been like for me to become world champion in my own country, in Brazil? I will never get that feeling back. Winning the title in front of my own fans in Interlagos, that would have been something indescribably beautiful, something unforgettable. I will never experience that feeling.”
