Felipe Massa, who retired from F1 in 2017, has instructed his lawyers to sue F1 and the FIA. Credit: Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed Lawyers for former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa are suing F1 bosses and the ruling FIA for significant damages in an alleged «conspiracy» that denied him the 2008 championship.
The pre-claim letter says the Brazilian, now 42, was stripped of his title as a result of actions at the highest level that cost him tens of millions of pounds in lost profits and bonuses.
It states that Massa briefed lawyers in the UK, Brazil, USA, Switzerland and France.
The pre-lawsuit letter is a mandatory legal notice prior to litigation.
The FIA and Formula 1 did not receive an immediate response to a Reuters request for comment. Formula One is currently closed in August.
«To put it simply, Mr. Massa is the rightful 2008 Drivers' Champion and F1 and the FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that stripped him of that title,» it says. in a letter obtained by Reuters and sent from Enyo Law's London office in August. 15.
“Mr. Massa cannot fully estimate his losses at this stage, but believes that they could exceed tens of millions of euros.
“This amount does not cover the serious moral and reputational losses suffered by Mr. Massa” .
The letter was addressed to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, formerly head of Team Massa at Ferrari, and FIA Paris President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Lewis Hamilton (right) overtook Felipe Massa (left) in the 2008 championship by one point. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
He warned that without a satisfactory response to his potential claims, Massa intended to «sue in order to obtain compensation for the harm caused to him, and also to admit that, were it not for these illegal actions, he would have been awarded the 2008 championship.”
He warned that if there was no response on the merits within 14 days, the lawyers «waiting to be instructed to commence proceedings in the English courts without further notice».
Massa led the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. when Brazil's Nelson Pique crashed his Renault into the wall on lap 14 of a 61-lap race.
The crash triggered the safety car and Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso won the race.
Massa failed to score after a bad pit stop, and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton eventually beat him by a point in the championship.
This pit stop error caused Massa to retire from the 2008 race in Singapore. Credit: AP/Oliver Multhaup
In 2009, Piqué revealed that he was ordered to crash by Renault team leaders, who were subsequently banned. The scandal, called «crashgate», became one of the largest in the history of sports.
Massa sought legal advice after former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone told a German website in March that he and former FIA president Max Mosley had evidence that Pique deliberately crashed but was inactive.
“I want justice. To understand whether what happened was right or not,” Massa told Reuters in May.
“If the most important people from Formula 1 and the FIA knew about it in 2008 and nothing is fair ? It's not fair.»
In an interview with www.f1-insider.com, Ecclestone said in translation that «we wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal.»
«I still feel sorry for Mass today,» he added. «He was cheated out of the title he deserved and Hamilton was lucky in the world to win his first championship.»
Ecclestone, now 92, was ousted as F1 supreme leader in 2017 after the American Liberty leader. The media took over as owners of the commercial rights, but were unable to immediately confirm the accuracy of the quotes.
The letter before the lawsuit stated that it was clear from the interview that “Mr. Massa was the victim of a conspiracy committed by people at the highest level of F1, together with the FIA and the F1 leadership.”
Massa did not win again after 2008, when the Brazilian suffered a near-fatal head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. He retired in 2017.
Mosley, who worked closely with Ecclestone, died in 2021, and FIA Racing Director Charlie Whiting, another key figure, died in 2019.
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