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Felipe Massa has filed a lawsuit against the FIA, FOM, and Bernie Ecclestone in the High Court of Justice London to void the 2008 F1 Singapore GP. The entire case has been built on the premise that the inaugural Formula 1 night race was fixed.
Renault team principal Flavio Briatore had instructed his driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to crash at a specific point in the race. As a result, an ill-timed safety car turned the race upside down and transformed the second driver Fernando Alonso's race into a winning one. Alonso went on to win the inaugural race, but the major impact of that race was felt by Felipe Massa.
The Brazilian was comfortably leading the race and was in a league of his own until the ill-timed safety car. That led to a mid-race melee in which Felipe Massa had a horrible pitstop which destroyed his race. Even though the crashgate was exposed by 2009, it was too late because once the awards were given at the yearly FIA gala, the results could not be overturned.
With those being the rules, Felipe Massa could not contest them and had to settle. The furor would, however, kick off when last season, in an interview with F1Insider, Bernie Ecclestone revealed that the FIA president at the time, Max Mosley, knew about the crashgate before the 2008 gala. Ecclestone and Mosley, however, chose to stay quiet because the sport had already gone through a major scandal in 2008.
As soon as the interview surfaced, Felipe Massa initiated litigation to make the 2008 F1 Singapore GP void. After what appears to be months of deliberation, the Brazilian has now filed a lawsuit against the FIA, FOM and Bernie Ecclestone. According to a statement from Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados:
"Mr Massa is seeking declarations that the FIA breached its regulations by failing to promptly investigate Nelson Piquet Junior's crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and that had it acted properly, Mr Massa would have won the drivers' championship that year. Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA's failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit."
It also adds that attempts to find an amicable solution to all of this have been unsuccessful.
"Attempts to find an amicable resolution have been unsuccessful, leaving Mr Massa with no choice but to initiate legal proceedings."
What happened in the 2008 F1 title battle between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton?
The 2008 F1 title battle between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton went down to the wire at the Brazilian GP. Massa was the lead driver for Ferrari while Hamilton was the lead driver for McLaren.
The battle went back and forth from the start to the end during which Lewis Hamilton ended the season with five wins to his name and 98 points. Felipe Massa ended the season with six wins to his name and 97 points. The contentious race in Singapore proved to be the difference in the battle.
Massa's race was ruined after the predetermined Nelson Piquet crash, while Hamilton could recover in that race and score a podium. If the race in Singapore is voided, Massa would become the winner of the 2008 F1 championship, and that is what has been the bone of contention in all of this.
