Sao Paulo:
Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa said on Thursday he would “fight till the end” to be declared 2008 Formula One world champion instead of Britain’s Lewis Hamilton.
Reuters revealed last week that the Brazilian had begun legal action against Formula One and the governing FIA seeking substantial damages as a result of an alleged “conspiracy” which saw him denied the title.
“We are going to fight to get the title,” Massa told Brazilian website GE in an interview, clarifying that his case was about much more than financial compensation. “I have come here to make it clear that things were not done fairly.”
Massa, who retired in 2017, was leading the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix when fellow-Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashed his Renault into the wall on the 14th lap of the 61-lap race. The crash caused a safety car to be triggered, which went to teammate Fernando Alonso, who won, while Massa failed to score after a botched pitstop.
Hamilton, who was racing for McLaren at the time and is now an honorary Brazilian citizen, eventually beat Massa by a single point for the first of a record-equalling seven championships. Michael Schumacher, Massa’s former Ferrari teammate and close friend of the Brazilian during his racing career, is the only other driver to have won seven titles.
Formula One’s rule at the time was that the result of the championship could not be changed after the end of season awards ceremony. Massa sought legal advice this year after former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told a German website in March that he and former FIA president Max Mosley knew in 2008 that Piquet had deliberately crashed but took no action.
Massa said, “I have nothing against Hamilton. This fight is about a race that was rigged.” He said that “ideally” he should have been declared the 2008 champion and the Singapore race cancelled. “That world title was ours and it was snatched away through manipulation,” he said.
Ecclestone, 92, told Reuters last week he could not remember which key quotes were attributed to him. Mosley, who worked closely with Ecclestone, died in 2021, while FIA race director Charlie Whiting, another key figure, died in 2019.
Piquet revealed in 2009 that Renault team bosses had asked him to crash, having been subsequently banned. “I think it is important for us to fight for the sport to get justice,” said Massa, who did not win another race after the 2008 season and suffered a near-fatal head injury in Hungary in 2009.
“We fight for the title and that’s where we fight until the end.”
Hamilton told reporters at the Dutch Grand Prix that he was focused on helping his Mercedes team in their current championship battle. “I’m not really focusing on what happened 15 years ago,” Britton said.
