There’s by no means a scarcity of drama within the Formula 1 world, and lately, former racer Felipe Massa has determined to make headlines by contesting the outcomes of the 2008 World Championship. See, Massa misplaced that title to Lewis Hamilton by only one level — however Massa is able to show in courtroom that was screwed out of a title. And since Hamilton has so many different titles, why not simply give this one to Massa? As just a little deal with?
Let’s arrange some context. See, Massa has claimed that he was “the victim of a conspiracy committed by individuals at the highest level of F1 together with the FIA and Formula One Management,” Reuters experiences. Why? Because of the Crashgate scandal.
At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed to present his teammate Fernando Alonso a a lot wanted benefit in each the race and the championship. While it was suspicious on the time, it wasn’t till 2009 that allegations of conspiracy grew to become widespread and the reality got here out that the Renault group had manipulated the championship. By that point, the 2008 title had been awarded to Hamilton.
Now, Massa’s argument hinges on the truth that he believes there’s sufficient proof to show F1 was greater than conscious that the Singapore Grand Prix crash was intentional earlier than the completion of the 2008 season. Basically, that might imply that F1 selected to not take motion to proper this unsuitable till it was too late to change the end result of the 2008 title struggle.
And it was a really vital struggle: Massa misplaced out on that title by only one level. Now, he’s arguing that, had F1 addressed Crashgate instantly, he’d have scored sufficient factors to win, simply. Massa was, in spite of everything, main the race when Piquet Jr. crashed. Because guidelines on the time forbid pit stops till all of the automobiles within the race had bunched up behind the protection automobile, Massa’s post-crash cease dropped him down a number of positions, and he finally completed the race in thirteenth place — properly outdoors of a points-paying end.
In mid-August, Massa and his attorneys despatched a proper letter to F1 and the FIA to announce the start of authorized proceedings. Massa is claiming that shedding the title induced him to lose out on tens of millions of {dollars} in earnings and certain had a destructive reverberation all through his total profession.
“Simply put, Mr. Massa is the rightful 2008 Driver’s Champion, and F1 and FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that cheated him out of that title,” the letter stated, as reported by Reuters. “Mr. Massa is unable to fully quantify his losses at this stage but estimates that they are likely to exceed tens of millions of Euros. This amount does not cover the serious moral and reputational losses suffered by Mr. Massa.”
It might not come as a shock that Massa’s authorized problem was impressed by former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who claimed in a March interview that he knew Piquet Jr.’s crash was deliberate when it occurred however that he and FIA head Max Mosley selected to not take motion till they have been compelled to take action in 2009. (For his personal half, Ecclestone additionally informed Reuters that he doesn’t even bear in mind making these statements to the media, and that Ecclestone hadn’t even been approached by Massa or his authorized group.)
In the letter submitted by Massa, F1 and the FIA have been required to reply by September 8. That date has now been pushed again to mid-October, Autosport experiences.
Ferrari — the group that Massa raced for in 2008 — has refused to develop into concerned within the lawsuit. Massa’s attorneys are actually hoping that Lewis Hamilton himself will aspect with Massa as a result of Hamilton “ an important ambassador for the sport and has always defended sporting integrity. He is an honorary Brazilian citizen and very well liked by Brazilians, so I hope he will support us. We have absolutely nothing against Hamilton.”
It will likely be fascinating to see simply how this authorized battle performs out. It may very well be simple for F1 to argue that motorsport is a fickle mistress, and that even when Massa had gained the 2008 Singapore GP, there could be no assure that the relaxation of his season would have performed out precisely because it had; he might very properly haven’t gotten near the Championship. Massa may additionally argue that the race win may have given him extra momentum all through the remainder of the season. The ultimate consequence will probably set a major precedent for different extremely controversial F1 seasons.
Source: jalopnik.com