Felipe Massa is contesting the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in court. He views himself as the rightful world champion – not Lewis Hamilton.
The race is synonymous with ‘Crashgate‘, one of the biggest scandals in F1 history. Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed to deliberately crash to aid his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso.
Alonso won the race, benefitting from the resulting safety-car period. Hamilton, then a McLaren driver, finished third.
Massa, meanwhile, failed to score after a pit-stop mishap. The Brazilian had been leading the race, but he left the Ferrari box with his fuel hose still attached.
Renault were disqualified from F1, a punishment that was suspended for two years, when Piquet Jr revealed the truth. Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds both received individual bans that were later overturned.
Massa eventually lost the title by a single point after a dramatic finale in Brazil. His argument is that the race shouldn’t count given the artificial interference, which would change the outcome of the championship.
Felipe Massa knows likeliest outcome in legal action over Lewis Hamilton title win
Massa’s case will be heard in the High Court in London at the end of October. Representatives of the FIA and Formula One Management will be in attendance, as will the sport’s former boss Bernie Ecclestone.
According to a report from Motorsport Netherlands, F1 wants to avoid ‘retroactive rule changes’ because they’d set an undesirable precedent. Mercedes didn’t pursue arbitration over the bitterly controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 because they didn’t want to win the title in court.
| RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 98 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 97 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 75 |
| 4 | Robert Kubica | Sauber | 75 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 61 |
As such, experts consider it ‘very unlikely’ that Massa will be awarded the title at Hamilton’s expense. A financial settlement is seen as more feasible.
The Brazilian could argue that he lost out on ‘significant revenue’, through sponsorship deals and contractual bonuses, because the championship eluded him. The discussion in the courtroom should revolve mostly around compensation.
Has Felipe Massa spoken to Lewis Hamilton over F1 lawsuit?
Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley cried uncontrollably after the 2008 Brazilian GP. Many Ferrari staff were celebrating in the garage when he crossed the line to win.
However, Hamilton passed Timo Glock in the dying seconds to snatch the title. But rather than looking back heartbroken, Massa feels a sense of injustice.
Speaking last year, Massa said he hadn’t talked to Hamilton about his lawsuit. He wanted to clarify that ‘this is not a fight with Lewis’.
The 43-year-old believes what happened in ’08 was not ‘good for the sport’. Massa moved to Williams after he left Ferrari, racing until the end of 2017.
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