Former Formula One driver Felipe Massa said on Monday he had filed a lawsuit in a London court against auto racing’s governing body FIA, series owner Formula One Management (FOM) and FOM’s former CEO Bernie Ecclestone amid his attempt to claim the 2008 title.
The 42-year-old Brazilian added that he is seeking to receive a minimum of $82 million in damages, a document obtained by The Associated Press showed. That amount included prize money he lost and other potential deals he would have obtained as a F1 champion.
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Massa, who has said since last year he is the “rightful” champion of 2008 due to the incident known as ‘Crashgate,’ was the runner-up in the Driver’s Championship to Lewis Hamilton.
“I always said I was going to fight until the end,” Massa said in the statement.
“Since the FIA and FOM decided not to do anything, we will seek to right this historical injustice in court. The matter is now for our lawyers and they are fully authorized to do whatever is necessary so justice in sport is served.”
Former Ferrari and Williams driver Massa, who retired in 2017, was leading the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix when fellow-Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed his Renault into the wall on lap 14 of the 61-lap race.
The crash triggered a safety car that benefited his team mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win while Massa failed to score after a bungled pitstop.
Hamilton, racing for McLaren at the time and now an honorary Brazilian citizen, eventually beat Massa by a point for the first of his record-equalling seven championships.
Michael Schumacher, Massa’s former Ferrari team mate and close friend of the Brazilian during his racing career, is the only other driver to have won seven titles.
F1 had a rule at the time that the outcome of a championship could not be changed after the end of season awards ceremony.
Massa’s filing said he wants “a declaration that the FIA acted in breach of its own regulations in failing to investigate the circumstances of the crash promptly in 2008” and “a declaration that if the FIA had not acted in breach of its own regulations, it would have canceled or adjusted the results of the Singapore Grand Prix with the consequence that Mr Massa would have won the drivers’ championship in 2008.
“The defendants’ actions caused significant financial loss to the claimant,” the document added. News about the race-fixing scandal involving Piquet Jr. emerged the following year.
Ecclestone told the British Press Association he agreed the case should go to court.
“If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong,” Ecclestone said.
“I cannot say anything about the outcome and what will happen. From his point of view, it is better that an English judge comes up with a verdict. It will be of more help for him.”
Information from the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
Source: www.espn.com