Eighteen years ago, Felipe Massa lost the Formula 1 World Championship by a single point to Lewis Hamilton. It was one of the most dramatic moments in sports history, and Massa has been forever tied to that moment as a paragon of bad luck, but the Brazilian believes there is more behind it. And he might be right. For now, the judges seem to be ruling in his favor.
Massa filed a complaint against Formula 1, the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, who at the time was the sport’s top boss, alleging sports corruption at the Singapore Grand Prix. Massa has spent years pushing to be declared champion and to receive a multimillion-pound indemnity. It seemed far-fetched, but now there are signs that he might be right.
FIA and Formula 1 must pay 250,000 pounds to Felipe Massa
Those who once treated Felipe Massa’s lawsuit against Formula 1 as a joke have stopped laughing. The judge in the London court hearing the case has decided that the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone, and Formula 1 must pay Massa’s costs, totaling 250,000 pounds. And this could be only the first step toward a historic ruling.
To recall what happened, Massa lost that world championship to Hamilton by just one point. But a year later it emerged that Renault had fixed the Singapore Grand Prix to ensure Fernando Alonso would win, ordering their second driver, Nelsinho Piquet, to crash into the wall at the moment when it would benefit them most.
The issue here is timing. Officially this did not come to light until late 2009, but in a documentary Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he knew about it immediately, and so did the late Max Mosley, then president of the FIA. Nevertheless, they did nothing to nullify a race that had been rigged.
If that race were annulled, Hamilton would lose the six points he accrued, while Massa left Singapore with nothing. In other words, Massa would become the 2008 World Champion. However, what the Brazilian is now seeking is no longer to be named world champion, but a multimillion-pound indemnity.
Specifically, Massa is seeking 82 million pounds in compensation, which he believes he would have earned over all these years had he held the status of Formula 1 World Champion, something he never achieved. It seemed he had few chances of winning, but this judge’s ruling has taken the FIA and Formula 1 by surprise.
We will see how this legal dispute is resolved, a case that could end with a historic ruling that re-arbitrates a sporting event 18 years later.
Images | Formula 1
