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Felipe Massa’s fight for justice over the infamous “Crashgate” scandal is finally reaching the courtroom. The former Ferrari driver’s lawsuit against the FIA, Formula One Management (FOM), and former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone will be heard in a London High Court this week, where he is seeking over $80 million in damages.
Massa, who lost the 2008 title to Lewis Hamilton by a single point, argues that F1 and the FIA did not act on evidence of race-fixing during that year’s Singapore Grand Prix. The Brazilian driver claims that the governing body violated its own regulations by not investigating the incident in time and costing him significant career and financial opportunities.
What is the 2008 Crashgate scandal?
On September 28, 2008, during the Singapore Grand Prix, Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed his car on the 14th lap. It triggered a safety car, giving his teammate Fernando Alonso a decisive advantage. The Spaniard, who had already pitted, won his first race of the season.
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The timing was disastrous for Felipe Massa, who was leading from pole. A chaotic pit stop under the safety car saw Ferrari release him with the fuel hose still attached. It sent him tumbling down the order, ultimately finishing 13th and scoring no points. Hamilton, meanwhile, finished third and gained six points, which eventually proved decisive in the title fight.
Initially, Piquet Jr.’s crash was seen as a simple driver error. But a year later, Nelson Piquet Sr. informed FIA officials that his son’s crash was not accidental; it was ordered by Renault team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.
The revelation led to a formal FIA investigation. Renault’s leadership was handed severe penalties, including bans and suspensions, though the team itself escaped the harshest punishment after cooperation.
By then, the 2008 championship results could not be changed. The FIA’s statutes prevented alterations after the end-of-season prize ceremony. Felipe Massa, who had come agonizingly close to the title, was left to accept Hamilton’s crown.
How Felipe Massa's case reached court after 15 years
The story reignited in 2023 after Bernie Ecclestone suggested he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew about the deliberate crash before the 2008 season ended. Ecclestone was quoted in a German media interview as saying they had “enough information in time to investigate the matter,” but chose not to act. He later claimed the comments were mistranslated or taken out of context.
Felipe Massa’s legal team, led by Bernardo Viana, sent a formal “letter before claim” to both the FIA and FOM, arguing that the governing bodies’ inaction deprived Massa of a fair championship outcome. The letter asserted that “Mr. Massa is the rightful 2008 Drivers’ Champion” and that the failure to investigate promptly breached FIA’s own rules. When the response from the FIA and FOM fell short, Massa’s lawyers filed a lawsuit in March 2024.
In his claim, Massa seeks over $80 million in damages, citing financial, moral, and reputational harm. The lawsuit also demands a declaration from the FIA acknowledging that it failed to follow its own regulations and that had it acted properly, the Singapore race results and by extension, the championship, would have been different.
Felipe Massa’s legal team has emphasized that this is not just about revising history but about accountability. Speaking to The Athletic earlier this year, his lawyer Viana Bernardo said:
“We are not far from scandals - so many recently, on and off the track - and the current decision-making and governance framework is clearly not equipped to deal with the challenges modern competition and the new generation of fans require.”
The FIA, FOM, and Ecclestone have all denied the claims and are seeking to have the case struck out before trial. This week’s London High Court hearing will focus on whether the lawsuit presents enough merit to proceed to discovery and a full hearing.
