Lewis Hamilton Echoes Ex F1 Supremo’s Comments Upon Questions Surfaced on $13,000,000 Title Controversy

Srijon Jana | 25/08/2023
Lewis Hamilton Echoes Ex F1 Supremo’s Comments Upon Questions Surfaced on $13,000,000 Title Controversy

The highly controversial Felipe Massa saga saw a major twist when former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone backtracked on comments previously made by him. It was these alleged comments that had sparked Massa’s legal battle against F1 and the FIA; the Brazilian racer claiming nearly $13,000,000 in compensation. Lewis Hamilton, being a major stakeholder in this controversy, was quite naturally asked about his opinion regarding the whole issue, to which he replied, as quoted by Racer, on the same tracks as that of Ecclestone.

The controversy revolves around the Crashgate scandal of 2008,  which led to Massa losing out on the race and, consequentially, the championship to Hamilton by just one point. In 2009, it came to light that Piquet Jr’s crash in Singapore was pre-planned- making it one of the major scandals in recent sports history.

The issue came back into popular consciousness this year when Bernie Ecclestone made a shocking revelation to F1 Insider. The former CEO claimed to have had enough information regarding the scandal to cancel the result of the Singapore GP. This led to the already aggrieved Massa starting his legal quest against F1.

Lewis Hamilton does not remember much about 2008

Ecclestone recently made a huge U-turn and told Reuters that he does not remember saying anything like this ever. This has turned out to be a major talking point, and ahead of the Dutch GP, Hamilton also said something similar, claiming that he doesn’t remember much from the 2008 season.

As reported by Racer, when asked about Massa’s legal challenge, Hamilton said, “I have a really bad memory, so I don’t really remember a lot, to be honest. I’m really just focused on the here and now and helping the team get back into the championship and the race. I’m not really focused on what happened 15 years ago.”

In reality, there is not much to gain for Massa as of now. He can’t appeal against the championship title and win it back from Lewis Hamilton. The least that he can fight for legally is financial compensation.

Things are looking bleak for Massa

Sky Sports F1 reported Craig Slater recently explained that as per the rules of the FIA, once a trophy is presented during the FIA’s prize-giving ceremony, there is no way for it to be taken back. All the drivers and the teams have already agreed to this and signed the statutes which state this.

Therefore, even when the scandal came to light in 2009, there was not much that could have been done regarding the World Championship title. The only option left for Massa is to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But even that wouldn’t provide him with any positive outcomes since the FIA simply does not recognize CAS decisions if they are about anything other than doping.

Post Edited By: Shreya Sanjeev
Bernie Ecclestone Felipe Massa Lewis Hamilton Nelson Piquet Jr

About the author

Srijon Jana

Srijon Jana is a Formula 1 writer at The SportsRush. As a medical undergrad with a passion for motorsports, Srijon loves juggling between cadavers and cars with ease. He started watching F1 when he was only 11, and the beautiful cars grabbed his interest. Even now, he religiously follows all the Grands Prix, and when he is not gushing over Charles Leclerc, he likes to dabble in football as well. He is a college quizzer with several state-level and national-level accolades. He is a proud Ferrari fan, and loves to pass his free time reading, watching movies, and spending some quality time with his friends and family.

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