Runner-up in the 2008 championship, Felipe Massa recently shared who he thinks the top three drivers in F1 history were. While the drivers he chose were certainly worthy of being in the GOAT conversations, what caught the eye was that he snubbed Lewis Hamilton.
The ones Massa named were Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Max Verstappen. This surprise omission of Hamilton’s name made for a controversial outlook, adding to a complicated history between the two.
Verstappen, despite just being a three-time champion, made the cut whereas Hamilton did not, even though he has seven titles. This snub was presumably because he still carries bitter feelings over how Hamilton snatched the 2008 championship away, in the final race in front of Massa’s home fans in Brazil.
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Massa also overlooked two-time World champion and former teammate Fernando Alonso, likely because the Spaniard benefited from the Crashgate scandal, which directly contributed to him losing the title to Hamilton.
Massa’s disregard for the two former World Champions once again brought to the forefront what appear to be lingering sour memories.
Hamilton proved to be of no help to Massa in his legal battle
Massa felt that the 2008 title was his to win, and the Crashgate scandal, which the FIA knew about, should have ben taken into account to hand the championship to him. The 43-year-old, as a result, wanted Hamilton to be stripped of his first-ever title and went to court for the same. In addition, he also claimed $82 million in compensation for the lost prized money.
Massa thought that Hamilton would support his claim because the Briton had always stood up for what was right. But the 39-year-old’s lawyers informed Massa that he would be staying out of it; Hamilton wanted nothing to do with the past.
| Felipe Massa has officially sued the FIA, F1, and Bernie Ecclestone for the results of the 2008 World Championship.
The former F1 driver continues in litigation for the result of the season that crowned Lewis Hamilton champion, succeeding Piquet Jr’s intentional crash in the… pic.twitter.com/5oRAOQdfYv
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Hamilton’s focus remained on the present, and get Mercedes back on top. He wasn’t going to be a roadblock in Massa’s legal battle but also wanted to stay away from any sort of controversy.
