Felipe Massa’s lawyers are seeking legal action against F1 and the FIA over an alleged conspiracy that led him to miss out on the 2008 world title.
Despite the fact that Felipe Massa won the last race of the season, notably in his home country, it was Lewis Hamilton who won the world title in 2008, by just one point. But 2008 was also the year of the scandal race in Singapore, where Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately parked his Renault into the wall at the behest of the team to trigger a safety car procedure with the aim of allowing his teammate Alonso to win the race. After a pit stop gone wrong, Massa was unable to score any more points.
Earlier this year, former F1 pope Bernie Ecclestone said he and then-FIA president Max Mosley were aware of foul play by Renault at the time but did not intervene. At that point, Massa started thinking about taking legal action.
According to Reuters, a so-called Letter before Claim, a required notice before legal proceedings, suggests that Felipe Massa was stripped of the title in 2008 and that he lost tens of millions in lost income and bonuses as a result.
According to Reuters, the letter states that Massa is the rightful world champion of 2008 and that F1 and the FIA have deliberately ignored the misconduct that stripped him of the title.
The letter is addressed to current F1 CEO and Massa’s then team principal at Ferrari, Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. It is also stated that legal action will be taken to claim damages if a satisfactory response is not provided.