Felipe Massa’s 2008 Title Bid Branded ‘Misguided Attempt’ in Court

The legal battle over the 2008 F1 championship, one of the most dramatic title fights in history, took another turn this week as lawyers from F1 Management(FOM) argued that Felipe Massa’s case “will fail.”

The Brazilian ex-driver has claimed that the infamous 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, later known as “Crashgate,” unfairly cost him the world championship. Massa argues that Formula 1 and the FIA knew of Renault’s deliberate crash, which led to Fernando Alonso’s win and Hamilton’s crucial points gain, but failed to act swiftly enough, altering the championship’s outcome. 

However, Annelise Day KC, representing FOM, dismissed these claims in written submissions to the court. She stated that Massa’s pursuit of the title was not derailed by the safety car triggered by Nelson Piquest Jr.’s crash, but by “a series of subsequent racing errors by him and his team during the remaining 47 laps of the race.”

Lewis Hamilton Outperformed Massa and Everyone Else

In one of the most direct rebukes of Massa’s legal argument to date, Day asserted that Lewis Hamilton was simply the better driver over the course of the season. 

“The simple fact is that over the course of both the Singapore Grand Prix and across the 2008 season, Mr Hamilton outperformed Mr Massa and everyone else,” she said. 

Hamilton famously won his first world title that year in dramatic fashion, clinching fifth place in the final corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix to edge out Massa by a single point.