F1 | Felipe Massa demands justice for Crashgate with $82 million claim. Felipe Massa is suing FIA, Formula One Management and Bernie Ecclestone.

Crashgate 2008, Felipe Massa takes F1 to court: $82 million compensation requested

The infamous Crashgate scandal from 2008 is back in the spotlight, this time in the courtroom. Felipe Massa, former Ferrari driver and the one who dramatically lost the title that season, has launched a legal action worth $82 million against the FIA, Formula One Management, and Bernie Ecclestone. Felipe Massa accuses them of covering up a scandal that, in his view, changed the outcome of the world championship.

It all began at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, when Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed into the wall on the orders of the Renault pit wall to benefit his teammate Fernando Alonso. The incident eventually led to Flavio Briatore being banned from Formula 1 (a sanction later reduced to five years), but according to Felipe Massa, it also had a direct impact on the championship he lost in Brazil to Lewis Hamilton, beaten dramatically at the final corner of the season.

The first legal hearing set for October

According to The Times, the first court hearing will take place in October at London’s High Court, with Massa represented by lawyer Nick de Marco KC. The Brazilian explained that his fight is not only about defending his own name but also about protecting the integrity of the sport. “Those who were supposed to protect this sport betrayed their duties. We will not allow them to benefit from wrongful conduct. We will take this case to the very end to achieve justice for me, for Brazil, and for the sport as a whole,” Massa declared.

Bernie Ecclestone responded by calling the lawsuit incomprehensible, but his own words in 2023 reignited the controversy. The former F1 boss admitted that he and Max Mosley, FIA president at the time, decided not to fully investigate the incident despite later confessions from Nelson Piquet Sr.

Now that the case has officially reached court, Crashgate is set to return to the center of debate. The trial could potentially rewrite one of the most controversial chapters in modern Formula 1 history.