Pooja Mahabadi, Pune
Felipe Massa, the former Ferrari driver’s legal team has started a compensation battle against the F1 bosses and the governing FIA body, the lawyers for Massa have sent a letter to FIA seeking compensation for Massa’s loss of title in 2008 which caused him tens of million dollars.
The second-place finisher, Massa to Lewis Hamilton in the 2008 season, initiated a legal dispute by submitting a claim in the form of an eight-page letter to the FIA, marking the preliminary stage of a legal confrontation that is set to unfold in the UK.
The management team of Massa has claimed that the FIA committee appeared to have neglected in taking action despite their awareness in the same year that Nelson Piquet Jr. of Renault had orchestrated a deliberate crash during the Singapore Grand Prix. This crash was intended to aid his teammate, Fernando Alonso, in securing victory during the race.
The deliberate crash triggered the deployment of a safety car, sabotaging Felipe Massa’s lead and undoing his advantage during the Singapore Grand Prix. An ill-fated pit stop at Ferrari’s boxes further compounded Massa’s misfortune, resulting in a 13th-place finish for the Brazilian driver.
During the same race, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton secured a third-place finish in Singapore. This marked the beginning of his journey to clinch his first of seven championship titles that year. The climactic final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, saw Massa triumph as the winner, while Hamilton’s dramatic fifth-place finish was enough for him to secure the championship by a mere one-point difference between the two drivers.
Massa’s letter was prompted by an interview with former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, where he revealed in March that he had knowledge of Nelson Piquet Jr.’s deliberate crash in the same year. However, Ecclestone admitted that he refrained from investigating the incident until Lewis Hamilton was officially awarded the season’s championship at an FIA event. This revelation has spurred Massa to take legal action.
Mr. Massa is the rightful 2008 champion, and F1 bosses and the FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that stripped him of that title,” an excerpt from the letter states.