Ex-F1 Driver Felipe Massa Sues Over Championship He Lost More Than 15 Years Ago

Former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa has filed a lawsuit against F1, the FIA, and former F1 head honcho Bernie Ecclestone in which he claims he's the rightful 2008 Formula World Champion.

Better late than never, right?

This was in the works for awhile, but the suit was officially filed on Monday, per Sky News.

If you're unaware, the record books currently have Lewis Hamilton — then with McLaren — as the World Drivers Champion in 2008. The now seven-time champ won the first title of his career over Massa on the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Massa took the checkered flag in P1 leading Ferrari to start celebrating what they thought were back-to-back championships after Kimi Raikkonen won the title in 2007.

However, Hamilton overtook Toyota's Timo Glock on the final lap, which gave him enough points to win the championship by just one point.

Ferrari won the constructors title, but that wouldn't be enough to help deal with such a heartbreaking loss.

However, the crux of Massa's lawsuit has nothing to do with the Brazilian Grand Prix, and everything to do with the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix which handed his teammate Fernando Alonso a victory, but likely cost then-Ferrari Felipe Massa a championship.  (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Massa's Suit Centers On ‘Crashgate’

That race is notorious in the F1 world for an incident that became known as Crashgate. Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed in the inaugural race around Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit.

It raised eyebrows because the timing of the ensuing safety car helped his teammate Fernando Alonso to a race win.

Eventually, it came out that this was by design and Piquet had been told to crash his car on purpose.

The scandal led to Renault team boss Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds leaving the team after facing race-fixing allegations.

How does this tie into Massa? Well, he was affected by the timing of the safety car and despite starting on pole wound up in P13 and out of the points.

But the problem is that in 2023, Ecclestone stated that he and then FIA-president Max Mosely knew about the Crashgate allegations during the season. 

So, had that race been thrown out because of the Scandal, Massa would be champion.

Hence the lawsuit.

"I always said that I would fight until the end. As FIA and FOM decided to do nothing, we will seek the correction of this historical injustice through the courts," Massa said in a statement, per Sky News.

"The matter is now with the lawyers and they are fully authorized to do whatever is necessary so that justice is done for the sport."

93-year-old Ecclestone — who sold F1 to Liberty Media in 2017 — said on Monday that he thinks Massa is making the right decision by filing a lawsuit.

"If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong.

"I cannot say anything about the outcome and what will happen. I have not got a clue, I don't think anyone has, but from his point of view, it is better that an English judge comes up with a verdict. It will be of more help for him."

I have no idea how this will shake out. Massa certainly has a point, especially if F1 and the FIA knew about Renault's actions but did nothing.

Get your popcorn, folks. This could get interesting.