Felipe Massa is determined to ‘seek justice’ for the 2008 Crashgate Scandal, for which, he believes that he was wrongfully snubbed off his world championship title. 9 years ago, back in 2014, the Brazilian had suspected that maybe Fernando Alonso knew about the scandal. Now, as per a report by Formulapassion, Massa is confident that Alonso had knowledge about the whole incident in detail.
Massa strongly believes that had it not been for the scandal, he would have been the winner of the 2008 championship, in which he lost out to Lewis Hamilton by a single point. 15 years after the incident, Massa has now launched legal proceedings against the FIA and F1, claiming $13,000,000 in reputational damages.
As it’s a race week for #SingaporeGP, and thanks to Felipe Massa the very first race that took place on this circuit in ’08 is back on the front pages, here’s the shot of Fernando Alonso celebrating the controversial victory. #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZceDk6Iwuw
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) September 11, 2023
The whole ordeal has got various F1 personalities involved including the likes of Bernie Ecclestone and Lewis Hamilton. Now, Fernando Alonso has come under the fire as Massa tries to seek ‘justice’.
Felipe Massa believes Alonso was involved in the Crashgate Scandal
Felipe Massa is of the stern belief that Alonso was involved in the whole scandal all along. In an recent interview with La Stampa, Massa said, “Alonso has always denied it. But it is impossible that he was unaware of everything.”
Massa explained that he is doing what he is doing for the justice of the sport. As per his comments, a set of lawyers are already working on the issue. They believe that there is a case to fight for. However, as of now, they have only written to F1 and the FIA and haven’t taken things to the court.
Felipe Massa’s lawyers want Lewis Hamilton support in his fight for the F1 title in court (For the integrity of the sport)
“ He is an important ambassador for sport and has always defended sporting integrity. He is an honorary Brazilian citizen and much loved by Brazilians..” pic.twitter.com/dGverKxXlR
— MenaGrandPrixEN (@MenaGrandPrixEn) September 10, 2023
The legal team also reached out to Hamilton recently, to ask for his help regarding the whole issue. Massa said, “I have nothing to say to Hamilton, it is not a case against him. Would he be the one to lose us? He has gained so far. Only I lost out.”
Massa is going to great lengths to seek justice
Massa has gone one step further as his team recently launched a legal proceeding against Flavio Briatore – the team principal of Renault at the time of the Crashgate. It is believed that he is the one who convinced Nelson Piquet Jr. to go ahead and crash his car. That in turn, helped Alonso win.
Massa’s team has also taken legal action against Ferrari and Renault. As per a recent report by Motorsport.com, the likes of Ferrari, Renault, ING – who was the sponsors of Renault in 2008 – and a few other major personnel received a ‘preservation notice’ from Massa’s legal team.
Felipe #Massa intraprende un’azione legale contro Flavio Briatore, Renault e #Ferrari per il ‘crashgate’.
Estende l’azione anche a ING (sponsor principale della Renault), Pat Symonds (ex DS Renault e attuale DT F1) e Steve Nielsen, ex DS Renault. #F1 #news pic.twitter.com/b6Od1XCQun
— LauraF1 🏁Seb e Schumy 🇩🇪🏁 (@LauraLuthien86) September 13, 2023
As per this notice, they are not allowed to destroy any documents relating to the 2008 Singapore GP and the Crashgate Scandal as a whole. If they do destroy them, they are open to a litigation for the same.
