Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa are tipped to come face to face soon when the F1 circus moves to the United States. As F1 will be in the US, Massa is reported to be present there as an ambassador. With the looming legal battle around the 2008 title, this might not be the meet-cute one would expect.
Why? The Brazilian revealed that he is going to take legal action over the 2008 championship won by Hamilton. If he takes to court, he’ll have to go against the FIA to snatch the title from the Mercedes star.
📰:McLaren responds to Felipe Massa’s claim that he deserved the 2008 World title, telling him “denial is a river in Egypt.” Massa lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by one point after a last-lap pass in the final race, and his disappointment has been reignited by revelations.#F1 pic.twitter.com/otL8asQxeZ
— F1 Naija 🇳🇬 (@f1_naija) April 13, 2023
Given the jeopardy the British driver is already in with the Mercedes W-14 underperforming, this will just add to his woes. As Massa has already made up his mind to challenge the championship, Hamilton will have to go into defense mode to keep his title.
Further, Massa has not provided any more information on the situation. The lawyers he hired to take up the case have asked him to keep mum in front of the media. As things stand, the legal battle against the FIA and of course, Lewis Hamilton is very much on the cards.
Why is Lewis Hamilton under threat from Massa?
Massa decided to take the legal route after learning previously unknown facts about the infamous Crashgate scandal from Ecclestone. Despite Renault being banned for multiple years and fined millions of dollars, the FIA and F1 didn’t nullify the Singapore GP.
Should they void the results of the race, Massa could’ve been easily the winner of the 2008 F1 world championship. He lost the title to Hamilton, by just one point after the Briton overtook Toyota’s Jarno Trulli at the last corner in Sau Paulo in 2008.
🎙️| Felipe Massa says that it wasn’t Saõ Paulo, but Singapore (Crashgate), that cost him the championship in 2008.
“What happened there is unacceptable. It can be compared to a football referee who is paid by a team. If that happens, the other team will sue.” pic.twitter.com/uzNgARcopW
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) November 9, 2022
The former Ferrari star was dealt a heavy blow after the Crashgate. As Piquet crashed, he dived down to the pit and hence lost the position. Whereas Hamilton finished the race in points and also reaped the advantages of the crash.
What is the Crashgate scandal?
The reports of the Brazilian former F1 driver challenging the championship have come right after former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone opened up a can of worms. Ecclestone, in an interview recently said that the governing body did nothing despite knowing Nelson Piquet Jr’s deliberate crash.
Admittedly, Renault pulled off an illegitimate move to make Fernando Alonso the winner of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The team ordered Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash against the wall and hence bringing up the Crashgate scandal.
This was done to bring the red flag and subsequently the safety car and propel the Spaniards to win. However, this didn’t stay under the carpet for long as the Brazilian revealed the ordeal as he lost his Renault seat a year after.
