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A former McLaren communications director, Matt Bishop, who worked with Lewis Hamilton, recently criticized Felipe Massa for protesting against the championship result of the 2008 F1 season.
Since 2023, Felipe Massa has been trying to overturn the 2008 F1 world championship results. Massa took this step particularly because the FIA and F1 seniors ignored the Crashgate scandal by Renault at the Singapore GP, which prevented the Brazilian from winning the race and allowed Lewis Hamilton to win the championship by one point.
On Monday, March 11, reports emerged that the former F1 driver had started legal proceedings against Formula One Management (FOM), the FIA, and former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.
Speaking on talkSPORT radio, Matt Bishop claimed that Felipe Massa was not taking legal action against F1 to overturn the championship results of the 2008 F1 season. Instead, he wanted monetary gain from it.
Bishop also believes that the FIA and F1 seniors will not take Massa's legal actions seriously.
“My suspicion is he doesn’t really think he’s going to overturn the result and be declared World Champion, he just wants a wedge of wonga. I just don’t think that the FIA, the governing body of the sport, is going to look at this,” he said (via PlanetF1).
Bishop speculated that Felipe Massa could be under the influence of lawyers who convinced him to take action to get financial gain.
“I know Felipe Massa. He’s a fine driver and is a nice guy. But my view – and this is my speculation, I’m not speaking from absolute certain knowledge – I think somebody’s got their shovel under him and has said: ‘We can do something for you here, we can earn you a lot of money.’ And, of course, what they really want to do is earn themselves a lot of money, probably lawyers,” he added.
Lewis Hamilton not concerned with Felipe Massa's legal investigation on the 2008 F1 world championship
In September 2023, Lewis Hamilton stated that he was not concerned about Felipe Massa taking legal action for the 2008 F1 world championship. He added that he was focused on the current F1 season and helping Mercedes return to the top.
"If that's the direction he feels he has to go. That's his decision. I'm not focused on what happened 15 years ago. I'm focused on what's up ahead and I'm trying to get our car and our team back to the top of the podium. So that's what I put all my energy towards," Hamilton said (via @fiagirly X account)
Lewis Hamilton's first-ever world championship was in 2008 when he was driving for McLaren.
