The first hearings of the case brought by Felipe Massa against Formula 1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone began this Tuesday (29/10), in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The Brazilian’s objective is to seek recognition that he should have been the world champion of the 2008 season — in addition to millionaire compensation for the sporting and commercial losses caused by the manipulation of the result of that year’s Singapore GP. THE Sporting News shows more details of the process.
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Why is Massa suing F1?
The case is based on the famous “Crashgate”. In the race held in Singapore, Renault ordered Nelsinho Piquet to deliberately crash his car to cause the safety car to enter at a strategic moment in the race. The maneuver benefited Fernando Alonso, the Brazilian’s teammate at the time, who won the contest artificially.
Massa, in turn, was the championship leader at that time and started on pole position, but suffered a chaotic pit stop after the safety car and finished outside the points zone, only in 13th.
That year, the title ended up being decided only in the last corner of the Brazilian GP, with Lewis Hamilton securing a fifth place that gave him the title by just one point ahead of Massa — 98 against 97.
Therefore, the Brazilian driver maintains that, if the Singapore GP had been canceled by the FIA, as he believes it should have happened given the proven manipulation, the points lost there would change the entire history of the championship. Thus, Massa understands that he would be the legitimate champion of 2008.
🚨 ATTENTION 🚨
The first hearings in the case that Felipe Massa is bringing against F1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone (former head of the category), in relation to the 2008 season title, began this Tuesday in the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court.
The action is based on what happened at the… pic.twitter.com/B33DVtG8AI
— Blog Formula 1 (@blog_formula1) October 29, 2025
What does Massa ask for in the process?
The lawsuit asks for two results: that Justice recognizes Massa as world champion of that season and that the defendants pay compensation estimated at around R$440 milliona value that would compensate for bonuses, prizes and commercial opportunities that he lost by not being crowned champion.
The former Ferrari driver makes a point of stating that his fight is not against Hamilton, but against an episode that disrespected the rules of the sport and compromised the equality of the championship.
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When will the result of the process be released?
These first hearings at the British Supreme Court serve to define whether the process will continue and move on to an evidence collection phase, or whether it will be archived.
This preliminary stage is scheduled to take place until October 31st and could be decisive in keeping Brazilians’ hopes of finally rewriting the history of motorsport alive.
