Felipe Massa: Ex-Ferrari F1 driver faces £64m claim for 2008 world championship from Lewis Hamilton | F1 News

Former Formula One driver Felipe Massa must wait to find out whether his £64 million claim against former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Management and its governing body the FIA ​​can go ahead.

The Brazilian claims he is the rightful winner of the 2008 world championship, which he lost by a single point to Lewis Hamilton after a deliberate crash by a third driver during the Singapore Grand Prix earlier in the season.

Massa is suing for breach of contract or duty, with his lawyers saying Mr Ecclestone knew the crash involving Nelson Piquet Jr was deliberate and that he and the FIA ​​failed to investigate the matter.

Mr Ecclestone, the FIA ​​and Formula One Management are defending the claims and have asked the High Court in London to dismiss the case.

On Friday, after three days of hearing, Judge Jay said: “Judgment will be reserved for rendering at a later date.”

At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Renault took victory from Fernando Alonso by ordering teammate Piquet to crash, bringing in a safety car and allowing Massa, who was leading the race for Ferrari, to finish 13th without any points after his strategy was compromised.

In the confusion that followed the incident, Massa sped away from a pit stop prematurely with a fuel hose still attached to his car, knocking down a member of his team and ending up in the path of another car. The following season, Piquet revealed that his bosses had asked him to crash deliberately.

Mr Ecclestone, who was F1 boss for four decades before being ousted in 2017, suggested in 2023 that the sport’s bosses knew of the cover-up before the end of the 2008 campaign.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the defendants said Massa performed poorly at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, ultimately causing him to lose the championship.

They also said the complaint was filed too late.

In written submissions, Mr Ecclestone’s lawyer, David Quest KC, said Massa’s claims “are a misguided attempt to reopen the results of the 2008 F1 Drivers’ Championship”.

Massa, who attended the hearing, is seeking damages for loss of income and sponsorship.

He also seeks declarations that the FIA ​​acted in breach of its own regulations and that if it had not done so it would have annulled or adjusted the results of the Singapore Grand Prix and he would have won the Drivers’ Championship.

Nick De Marco KC, representing Massa, said in his written submissions that the defendants “cannot establish that Mr. Massa’s claims have no real chance of success”, and argued that the case should proceed to a full trial.

He said Friday that the statements Massa requested are “the most effective way to achieve justice in his case.”