'Crashgate' Hearings Loom: What's at Stake for Massa?
Sep.4 - Felipe Massa has revealed new details about his ongoing legal battle over the 2008 "Crashgate" scandal, describing it as a fight for justice that goes beyond sport.
The former Ferrari driver spoke on Brazilian podcast Na Ponta dos Dedos, confirming that four days of hearings are scheduled in London at the end of October.
"Obviously, it's an intense effort by the entire team of lawyers involved in this process," Massa said. "There's a lot of work behind this hearing. It's very important, as an explanation to the judge, to explain that everything that happened isn't part of sports."
He called the affair a "conspiracy" that harmed both him and Brazil.
"That's not acceptable in sports, and unfortunately, my country and I paid the lion's share," Massa, 44, insisted. "I never imagined I'd go through this. It's not easy, it's very difficult, but justice must be done, and we have to fight for justice."
Massa also frames his legal pursuit as a moral obligation and precedent for the future.
"Not only for myself, but as an example for the future, so that people know that it is possible to fight for what is fair, for what is right," he explained.
He pointed to Bernie Ecclestone's past comments that the 2008 Singapore GP should have been cancelled and that Hamilton's first title should not have stood.
And Massa said he believes Nelson Piquet jr told the FIA about the conspiracy as early as Interlagos '08.
"Nelson Piquet (senior) is a three-time world champion," he charged. "He knows what a title means to him and his country, to the development of motorsport in his country, and they disappeared.
"If I were him, I would embrace the cause and join the fight of another driver, from the same country, who suffered a very sad and unacceptable situation."
Massa also tied the saga to the decline of Brazilian drivers in F1. "After that there was only me racing after 2011, after that we only had a few drivers. This shows what the title would represent and how the development of motorsport depends on the results achieved by the country's drivers."
4 F1 Fan comments on “'Crashgate' Hearings Loom: What's at Stake for Massa?”
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If this case goes to court does that mean that 2021 will also be reopened?
Oh, your back into dream time again Blo with that.
Not me, let sleeping dogs lie. We all know how good Massa was and Hamilton. Also Verstappen regardless of 21. Moss never won a world championship yet is revered to this day or Clark in the 63 Belgium Grand Prix or running away from the field at Brands Hatch in a Lotus cortina which I witnessed first hand.
The case seemingly hinges on Bernie’s assertion that there were “statutes” that would have necessitated annulling the race result. Except that nobody has been able to point to any document to verify this. The 2008 Regulations permit disqualification of the offending team, but that would not aid Massa’s cause. The only other option is to claim that because F1 Management & the FIA failed to act during the season, there was effectively a breach of contract. This may end up being the angle used to leverage a settlement. Disadvantaging an uninvolved third party (i.e. depriving Hamilton of his first F1 WDC) should be a complete non-starter from the legal perspective.