Massa's Legal Gambit: Rewriting F1 History Over 2008 Championship Upset
Aug.21 - Felipe Massa has taken the first official step in suing Formula 1 authorities over the 2008 world championship outcome.
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone triggered the action by admitting recently that the sport knew about the 'crashgate' scandal prior to the end of the season.
That may have handed the title to Brazilian Massa, now 42, rather than Lewis Hamilton.
"On August 15, (Massa's) law firm sent a letter to Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem," revealed Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
The allegation is that initially ignoring Renault's misconduct over the deliberate Nelson Piquet crash in Singapore of 2008 meant Massa was robbed of the world championship - including millions in earnings and the reputational consequences.
In the letter, Massa's lawyer said the former Ferrari driver had been the "victim of a conspiracy", with F1 and the FIA given two weeks to respond.
Both of F1's authorities declined to comment, according to Reuters news agency, while 92-year-old Ecclestone is denying he even remembers making his recent comments.
On social media, some pointed out that if the outcome of the 2008 world championship is overturned, then so too should Max Verstappen be stripped of his 2021 title over the conduct of ousted race director Michael Masi in the Abu Dhabi finale.
"No, I'm not going to watch that again," Verstappen tells De Telegraaf newspaper in a new interview. "I know I won.
"In the months after that race I looked back a bit, but at a certain point I only look forward."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Massa must have deep pockets
Indeed, given he earned well over his time racing in F1, meaning the possible bonus losses because of not winning that season's championship aren't truly losses to him.
If a single race outcome were changeable after about 15 years, so should Max lose his first championship, Schumi his first, & Senna his second in 1990, etc.
Woulda', coulda', shoulda' is why we have bench racing in pubs. The ink is dry, boys. Give it a rest. Hey barkeep, bring us another round.
"In the months after that race I looked back a bit, but at a certain point I only look forward."
Fed ex this to Christian and his daughter, reminding them , Who is winning?
It's a sad day for F1 when a WDC is thrown into doubt because of an alleged comment by a senile geriatric!
How many other WDC's can be questioned and end up being a legal battle in a courtroom rather than a battle on the track. I hope Massa's courtroom challenge fails, otherwise it creates a complete debacle of motor racing which opens the door to legal challenges for every championship based on the precedent that Massa is trying to create.
Smokey, spot on re this being a stupid move on Massa's part, but Flav' ordering the faux crash is fact, not allegation. Then we get into the "what would have happened if" scenario. Back to the pub. LOL
I have to disagree with you lot.
If the outcome of any championship is gained through "cheating", then it is null and void. Doesn't matter if it was yesterday or 10 years ago - what is wrong is always wrong - it isn't subjective.
So, Massa's challenge is legitimate. I hope he gets awarded the WDC, because he would have won were it not for the ordered crash.
Regarding the 2021 WDC - the Race Director unlapped the back-markers - which is allowed in the rules. So, quit trying to make it sound like it was an un-fair move. It had been done innumerable times before, so if it wasn't wrong in all those other examples, it wasn't wrong in Bahrain. So enough, already.
FFS
Hey, Great White North, my only argument is that if it had been properly handled at the time we can't predict what different strategies might have been employed. No defense for the offense, but right or wrong, it's water under that big bridge. One thing for sure, Flav' should have never again been allowed paddock access.
If Massa hangs his hat on the outcome of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to succeed in his challenge, then he is doomed to fail. If we look at the reality, without the emotions, Massa's pit stop (back in the days when compulsory refuelling was part of a race) was a complete disaster. He took off with the fuel hose still connected to the car, and had to stop at the end of the pit road and wait for the sprinting Ferrari crew to arrive and dislodge the fuel hose. Consequently, he rejoined in last place, finally finishing in 13th place and well out of the points ~ back in the day when only the first six finishers were awarded points.
So the reality is that the fuel hose incident was the cause of his failure to score points in Singapore, not the staged Piquet crash. If you had to apportion blame, you would find fault lay at the Ferrari crew member who incorrectly gave Massa the green light to go!
It seems to me more like a money grab by Massa, trying to get tens of millions of dollars under false pretences!
Good analysis, Wayne. There are several red team snafus that eason that could have given Massa more points. That does not mitigate the Flavgate BS, but woulda', coulda', shoulda' doesn't win the brass ring. In the US, we call the Massa action a frivolous lawsuit, especially 15 yrs later.
There are sports where a president has been set, whether its doping, betting/match fixing at world championship level, its just something to talk about until the next race.