A London judge ruled this Thursday (20) that Brazilian driver Felipe Massa’s action against Formula 1 regarding the 2008 world championship will be taken to trial.
Massa, who currently races in Stock Car, opened the case at the High Court of Justice in the British capital in March 2024.
Judge Robert Hay considered this Thursday that the Brazilian pilot should have the right to defend his thesis that he was the victim of a conspiracy in a trial.
On the other hand, Jay ruled out in this future trial putting into doubt that year’s world drivers’ title, won by Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, due to FIA (International Automobile Federation) regulations.
It was the first of seven titles for Hamilton, who ended that season just one point ahead of Massa.
The Brazilian believes he was harmed during the Singapore Grand Prix, the 15th of the 18 stages of that 2008 season, which ended with the victory of Spaniard Fernando Alonso.
Massa claims that, to favor Alonso, Renault, the Spaniard’s team at the time, ordered its second driver, Brazilian Nelsinho Piquet, to suffer an accident on purpose.
Alonso, who had started 15th, had just made a pit stop at the time of the accident.
The intervention of the Safety Car allowed the Spaniard to overtake the other drivers, who had to stop in the pits, and end up winning the race.
Massa completed the race outside the scoring zone and Hamilton was third, adding valuable points in the fight for the title.
The judge considered that Felipe Massa can claim compensation of 64 million pounds sterling (R$446 million at current prices) from the FIA, the company FOM (Formula One Management) and the former head of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, for damages due to the lack of an investigation into Nelsinho Piquet’s accident.
This value was calculated based on an estimate of the salaries and commercial contracts that a world champion title could have provided to the Brazilian pilot.
