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Felipe Massa’s lawsuit in the so-called Crashgate scandal could set a precedent that could also influence Lewis Hamilton’s lost world title in 2021, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff thinks.
Toto Wolff is following the developments in the lawsuit that Felipe Massa is filing against the FIA and F1 with great interest. Massa believes that due to the fact that the FIA did not intervene in time in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, he missed out on the 2008 world title. Massa decided to take legal action after Bernie Ecclestone stated in an interview that the FIA knew what had happened but that it was decided not to intervene.
“This is clearly not something anyone saw coming, the rules in Formula 1 are quite clear,” said Wolff. If there is a lawsuit behind it, that would certainly set a precedent, which it is. We watch curiously from the sidelines.”
In 2021, Lewis Hamilton had to leave the world title to Max Verstappen in the very last round of the world championship after a controversial decision by the race management. Mercedes filed a complaint, but it came to nothing and although they would have appealed and the result of the race in question would have been annulled, that would not have meant that Hamilton would get the title.
Wolff therefore wonders whether it would not be worthwhile to reopen the case surrounding the race in 2021 if people are now trying to cancel the result of a race that took place fifteen years ago.
“The FIA commented on the 2021 race with a clear statement,” he said. “So that’s why we looked at it with interest.”