Felipe Massa files lawsuit to claim 2008 F1 World Champion title
May 22 - Felipe Massa is pushing ahead with plans to sue Formula 1 authorities in order to be declared 2008 world champion.
Lewis Hamilton's first world title has always been under a cloud due to the 'crashgate' scandal - where Fernando Alonso won the Singapore GP after his Renault teammate Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed.
"I spoke about it at the time with Ferrari and with the team's lawyers at Maranello and they told me that there was nothing they could do," Massa said earlier this year.
However, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone subsequently admitted that he actually knew Piquet's crash had been deliberate - long before the scandal broke publicly a year later.
"Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification was untouchable after the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year," Ecclestone said.
"So Hamilton was presented with the cup and everything was fine."
Massa, now 42 and - like Piquet jr - racing in the Brazilian Stock Car series, thinks that in light of Ecclestone's admission, he could launch legal proceedings and win.
"In other sports, titles have been revoked when things like this have been discovered, so why not in F1?" he said.
"After Bernie Ecclestone spoke about it, we are trying to understand - legally - if there is any chance of looking at it again," Massa told the Brazilian publication Esportelandia.
"Bernie said that he and the president of the FIA in 2008 and everyone else knew and didn't want to do anything about it so the Formula 1 name was not hurt," he added.
"I was totally wronged by what happened in a stolen race. What Bernie said made me lift my antenna and go after justice.
"I'm not a lawyer, but everyone knows I was clearly wronged and I think I am right to fight for justice to make it right.
"It wasn't an engine that broke down, it was a stolen race - a manipulation, which is a very serious thing. Sure, there was an engine that also broke, but that's part of the time.
"This was a manipulation. The end of the race was completely different to what it should have been."
Massa said there are even precedents in Formula 1 for similar incidents - like what happened with McLaren in 2007 over the 'spygate' scandal.
"In 2007, when McLaren took Ferrari's project and copied the car, they were disqualified from the championship. They were punished for what happened," said the Brazilian.
"In my case, there was no punishment. But in football and many other sports, when things happened, the results were corrected."
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Check out earlier articles about this F1 item:
- Piquet Jr. opens up about 2008 Singapore Grand Prix scandal
- Ex-F1 driver Massa considers legal action for 2008 F1 title win
- Ecclestone claims Hamilton should only have 6 F1 drivers' titles
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Nothing will change & Massa would open up a can of worms because, for consistency's sake, Max should equally lose his championships retroactively for RB's budget cap breach or 2021 triumph for the non-race Belgian GP nullification & the same with Senna's 1990 & Schumi's 1994 championships, & even Massa's 2008 Belgian GP victory, among many others, all this for fairness' sake while we're at these things.
Quite.
Well I fully support Mr Massa in this enterprize, I sniff a court case coming...
This is just wrong. They are trying to steal another championship from Lewis. If this happens, then they have to give 2021 to Lewis. Also, they have to restore Lewis' Belgium 2008 victory. Cleary, the politics of the sport has an agenda against Lewis. At this point, we all know that its due to his ethnicity in a white privilege sport. As for Massa, he's being manipulated by Ecclestone to generate some attention for F1. Massa needs to wake up and realize this.
Serious?? white supremacie?....go and stick you head in a bucket of ice man. Hate against annyone is wrong, but no sir Lewis Hamilton is more importend than others eye.... and isn't mr Massa also an ..arrgh what ever mate!
Shall I, shall I?, Naw I just can't be bothered lol
It's been 15 yrs. Felipe got snaked, get over it. If he wants to place blame call out Flav' in Singapore for crashgate that caused the red team to screw up yet another pit stop. That cost Massa big time. Or, how about we blame Glock for letting the knight pass him on the last lap to move up a place and get that extra point. Felipe was to Ferrari as Checo is now to RB. Good driver, good teammate, good guy, but no cigar. Destiny fulfilled.
Ror be quiet , i've got an iron clad deal going here for 1M T-shirts saying "The Dame" 6 times a lady with Lionel R rerecording his epic tune to boot hehehe
Hey, Stroppy - so where can I get a shirt?
In the meantime, I can't believe all the Loo-Loo fans soiling themselves over "robbing him of ANOTHER championship." FFS - 2022 was a fair-and-square win for Max. He got new softs, Loo-Loo didn't, and the Race director un-lapped the back-markers. All legitimate actions. So STFU for once. Jesus.
As far as the 2008 WDC goes - think of it like any sporing match, if the win is truly illegitimate, then the crown goes to the fighter that should have won. In this case, Massa.
They will become available as a celebratory item on the day The Dame announces her retirement, so end of the season hopefully,...!
Excsssellent.
F1 has always been laced with cheats from the FIA down, where do you draw the line? This is a business for the mega rich, they don’t believe the law applies to them do they Flav, let alone silly racing rules.
Ecclestone doing what he does best, stirring shet and adding more fuel to the fire!
Why has Massa decided, after 15 years, to challenge the outcome of 2008? If he was really serious, he would have mounted a challenge at the conclusion of the 2008 season.
It's now too late to attract any sponsorship money for him. Leave the results as the stand!
Smokey
This has come about now because of what Ecclestone said recently that he knew about crashgate in 2008.
He didn't say it then so Massa had nothing to support a challenge.
Having said that I don't think Massa has a chance of succeeding , but it still puts an asterisk against Hamiltons first WDC.
Then there’s the 2008 Belgium gp when Hamilton was penalised 25secs after the race for going of the track, when he had already given the position back at the time . As I’ve said before, where do you draw the line? And really who cares.
Yes, penalizing him retroactively for something that wasn't illegal at the time was wrong.
No to be fair sometimes drivers really do get properly panelized retrospectively , like Lucy when he lied to the Public and the Fia, no one likes a liar, perhaps he is the greatest, Yeah the greatest Liar.
What Massa really needs is a bigger box of tissues!
Jer, Blo, Shmo and the rest of the sheeple bleating about how unfair The Dame is being treated forget one thing: everyone knew that Piquet took a dive to change the result of the race.
Even Dame Lucille knew.
For years we've been subject to her righteous moralizing and virtue-signaling about all the injustices in the world - first it was her racist claims of unfair treatment, then diversity, then a nauseating display of worldly-angst about the state of the planet (whilst roaring around in a huge gas-guzzling boat in the Med with his dog Rosco) now its all about LGBTQ2SGDMFQ rights.
And The Dame said nothing. Kinda makes me go "Hmmm....". It is Loo-Loo's pretentious, entitled BS that has erased his credibility with me. But hey, I'm not a sycophant willing to abandon my beliefs in moral and ethical behavior.
she reverts to type when its not going her way and the sheep believe her, I'm actually quite surprised there's been no grief between her and the King .
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