F1 Driver Felipe Massa Suing Over Championship He Lost 15 Years Ago

The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship wrapped up 15 years ago, but Felipe Massa hasn't gotten over losing it to Lewis Hamilton by one point.

Massa and his legal team announced that they have begun legal action against Formula 1 and the FIA. They claim that there was a conspiracy against Massa in 2008. The Brazilian driver is now seeking millions in compensatory damages.

An eight-page letter was sent to Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem earlier this week. This outlined their grievances and is a requirement before court proceedings begin.

Massa drove for Ferrari in 2008 and momentarily won the championship after he won the season finale Brazilian Grand Prix. However, Lewis Hamilton — then with Mercedes — passed Toyota's Timo Glock in the final few corners. This gave Hamilton a P5 finish and a 98-97 lead in the championship to clinch his first title.

While heartbreaking, the drama — and alleged conspiracy — started several races earlier at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

There, Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was told to intentionally crash his car in a move designed to help teammate Fernando Alonso who had just left the pits. It helped in a big way, and Alonso won the race.

However, Massa was leafing at the time of the incident and the ensuing safety car led to him pitting and ultimately finishing the race in P13.

The next year, Renault's conspiracy to have Piquet crash on purpose was revealed and became known as "Crashgate." Renault was eventually charged with conspiracy and race-fixing.

Felipe Massa is taking legal action against Formula 1 and the FIA over the 2008 championship. (Photo by Darren Heath/Getty Images)

Does Massa Have A Case?

It'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out, but I don't think Massa has much of a case.

That's because while he lost a lot of points putting due to Piquet's crash in Singapore, the reason he dropped down the running order so severely had to do with a mistake in the pitlane.

Actually, two mistakes.

Ferrari attempted to double-stack Massa and teammate Kimi Raikkonen. However, they released Massa from the pit box with the fuel hose still attached. Additionally, they sent him out directly into the path of Force India's Adrian Sutil.

That mistake was on the team. Maybe they were rushed because of the unexpected safety car, but every safety car is unexpected.

Additionally, there were two races between Singapore and Brazil. These would've allowed Massa time to make up one or two points in the championship. He finished P7 in Japan and then finished P2 behind Hamilton in China.

I think it'll be easy for F1 and the FIA to argue that Massa and Ferrari left points on the table. Therefore, they lost the championship themselves.

However, it's not for me to decide, and this one could get very, very interesting.

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