Massa reveals financial toll of legal battle over Hamilton's first F1 title

Felipe Massa hopes his fight for justice against Formula 1, the FIA ​​​​and Bernie Ecclestone will soon be concluded given the extraordinary financial burden.

In March, Massa and his Brazilian legal team announced they had filed a lawsuit against the sport, motorsport's governing body and former Formula One boss Ecclestone over Lewis Hamilton's first Formula One title in 2008.

They pointed out that, given the “crashgate” saga that marred this year's Singapore Grand Prix, Massa should be declared the rightful winner of a championship he lost to Hamilton by one point.

Massa was leading that race when Nelson Piquet Jr. caused a deliberate accident with his car, setting off a series of events that led to his then Renault teammate Fernando Alonso taking the checkered flag. Ferrari driver Massa was involved in a botched pit stop that resulted in him finishing 15th.

Massa's case was sparked by comments made by Ecclestone last year in which he claimed he knew, along with then race director Charlie Whiting and then FIA president Max Mosley while However, Renault's race manipulations in the 2008 season have chosen to maintain silence in order to protect Formula 1 and the FIA.

Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados, representing Massa, filed its lawsuit in London's High Court, seeking a declaration that “the FIA ​​breached its regulations by reporting Nelson Piquet Junior's accident at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix did not promptly investigate and that if she had acted properly, Mr. Massa would have won the drivers’ championship that year.”

Damages are also being sought to compensate Massa for not being an F1 champion but should have been recognized as such for 16 years.

The article continues below

Massa – I definitely paid

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365Massa confirmed that the case has been ongoing for “four or five months.”

“I hope that the right thing happens, for justice, for something that was not part of the sport that punished me severely,” Massa said.

“That’s what we’re fighting for, which I think is the right thing to do, especially after 16 years and hearing things that you never thought were real.”

“After that, I decided to put together a large team of professional people from many different countries. They really believe what happened wasn’t fair for the sport and I definitely paid for it.”

“When we heard Bernie's comment last year, we started putting things together and we started struggling to analyze things in a professional, legal way because it wasn't part of the sport.”

Massa “cannot say when” the case will end as the wheels of justice turn slowly, but he is of course hoping for the right outcome.

“I never thought I would be a part of something like this in my life,” he said. “It is not easy. It’s also very expensive, a lot of money, so I really hope things end soon.”

“But we have been waiting for justice for so long, we have to hope that the truth will come out and there will be justice.”