Former F1 driver Felipe Massa and his legal team have threatened to file a UK High Court Action against the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) if the governing bodies continue to delay responding to claims surrounding the outcome of the 2008 drivers’ championship.
Earlier this month, Massa’s lawyers issued a letter of demand to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and FOM CEO Stefano Domenicali.
As the first step before any legal claim is established, the letter presented Massa’s legal pursuit to claim the 2008 championship, which the then-Ferrari driver lost to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
LIVE UPDATES: All the scores and action from the US Open day three
READ MORE: ‘You’ll get weeded out’: Big Willie rips ‘soft’ Dogs
READ MORE: Marsh tees off as debutant sets Aussie tongues wagging
In the document, Massa accused the bodies of conspiring to prevent him from winning the title following the events of the season’s controversial Singapore Grand Prix.
Massa claimed that no action was deliberately taken after learning that Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr had deliberately crashed during the race to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.
The crash brought out the safety car while Massa was running in the lead before a disastrous pit stop cost the Brazilian the race.
Massa finished 13th while Hamilton crossed the line in third.
Hamilton went on to claim the championship after a dramatic fifth-place finish at the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix. The difference between the two drivers was one point.
Massa, who won the race, spent 30 seconds celebrating what he thought was a world title, before Hamilton overtook Toyota’s Timo Glock on the final corner of the race to leapfrog him for the title.
“Simply put, Mr Massa is the rightful 2008 champion, and F1 and the FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that stripped him of that title,” the letter read.
Massa’s push for compensation was triggered by an interview with former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who told 1-Insider website in March, that he, along with then FIA president Max Mosley were aware of the Piquet situation “during the 2008 season.”
Under Formula 1’s regulations, the championship positions are final once the FIA’s prizegiving ceremony is held at the end of the schedule.
Motorsport.com has since reported that both the FIA and FOM briefly responded to Massa’s letter, but said they were unable to provide a formal response to the individual claims in such a short period and with staffing impacted by F1’s summer break.
This has prompted Massa’s team to escalate its search for answers, informing both bodies that a potential three-month turnaround was not “reasonable”.
“Work on a response should have begun promptly upon receipt of the Letter Before Claim and summer absences should not have prevented that,” the document allegedly claims.
The notice goes on to state that if a formal response is not made by Friday, September 8, then the legal team expects the matter to go to the UK High Court.
“An open-ended timeframe for a response is not consistent with the Pre Action Protocol,” the response reportedly said.
“Please provide your response by 4pm on 8 September 2023, failing which we anticipate being instructed to file claims in the UK High Court.”
It is understood that Massa’s legal team desires a fast response as it wishes to launch legal action in other jurisdictions.
With the matter still under examination, the FIA and FOM did not wish to formally comment.
“The FIA acknowledges receipt of correspondence from representatives of Mr Felipe Massa. The matter is under review and we will not be providing comment at this stage,” an FIA spokesman said.
Denial of responsibility! SamacharCentrl is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
