(Photo : Mark Thompson/Getty Images) SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – Felipe Massa of Brazil and Ferrari is seen on the pitwall throughout observe for the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix on the Interlagos Circuit on October 16, 2009 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Former Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa is in search of compensation for lacking out on the 2008 F1 Drivers’ Championship, the place he completed runner-up by a single level.
The legal professionals of the 42-year-old, who was driving for Scuderia Ferrari in 2008, had began authorized proceedings towards Formula 1 and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), or the International Automobile Federation, which is the governing physique of motorsports.
Massa’s legal professionals claimed there was an alleged “conspiracy” achieved by people on the highest stage of Formula 1, along with the FIA and Formula One Management, denying the previous Ferrari driver the 2008 Drivers’ Championship.
According to Reuters, a proper eight-page Letter Before Claim, which is required earlier than court docket proceedings, was despatched to Formula One chief govt officer Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem final Tuesday.
Domenicali was notably the group principal of Scuderia Ferrari when Massa narrowly misplaced out the title in 2008.
“Simply put, Mr. Massa is the rightful 2008 Driver’s Champion, and F1 and FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that cheated him out of that title,” the letter learn.
It additionally acknowledged that Massa couldn’t totally quantify his losses at this stage, however the estimated determine will doubtless exceed tens of thousands and thousands of Euros. The quantity doesn’t cowl the intense ethical and reputational losses the 11-time race winner suffered.
The alleged conspiracy might be referring to an incident through the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the place Massa was comfortably forward earlier than Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed his automobile to set off a security automobile, which gave his teammate Fernando Alonso a bonus.
Massa left the pitstop together with his gas hose nonetheless connected, dropping him to final place as Alonso received the race. The end result would show to be the distinction within the championship race.
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Massa misplaced the 2008 Formula 1 Drivers’ championship by a single level
Massa was inches from his first Formula 1 world title on the season-ending 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The then-Ferrari driver convincingly received his house race and was already the mathematical champion as he crossed the end line.
However, as the opposite vehicles have been about to complete, then-McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton overtook Toyota’s Timo Glock within the ultimate corners of the ultimate lap to make the fifth-place end that he was required to win the primary of his joint document seven world titles as of 2023.
The Brazilian by no means got here shut once more to competing for the title in his remaining years in F1, failing to complete above sixth within the championship standings.
Massa left Ferrari on the finish of the 2013 season, and he spent the final 4 years of his F1 profession with Williams Racing earlier than retiring in 2017.
Meanwhile, Hamilton wouldn’t win a title once more till 2014, the start of a interval of dominance for him and his new group Mercedes, whereby the Brit claimed six out of the seven Drivers’ titles obtainable from 2014 to 2020.
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