Why precedent doesn’t favour Massa’s F1 legal challenge

Felipe Massa insists that money is not motivating his legal challenge against the FIA and Formula 1. That’s despite his sizeable representation claiming the Brazilian has missed out on “tens of millions of euros” for not having been crowned an F1 champion. Disputing the result of the 2008 season, which he lost by a 
single point to McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, is instead about seeking “justice for the sport”.

Massa argues that recently circulated interviews with Bernie Ecclestone and the late Max Mosley prove they knew in good time that Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately in Singapore. Therefore, the race result (where Hamilton scored six points, Massa nil) should be tossed in the bin. 

There’s genuine reason to believe Massa when he says cash isn’t king. If he is to take F1 and the governing body to courts around the world, the receipts will pile up and this isn’t some ‘no win, no fee’ small-claims fodder. FIA legislation dictates that after a year’s awards ceremony (in this case, 12 December 2008), the result is set in stone.

Massa must know the odds of success and rewriting history 15 years later are extremely poor. And if justice really is the goal, he morally cannot accept any out-of-court settlement if it were ever offered. So, he really should be ready to lose a fistful of dollars.

Since Massa is effectively biting the hand that feeds him by formally challenging F1, it’s no surprise that his paddock pass has been turned off. He and Formula 1 have ‘mutually agreed’ he should no longer attend grands prix in his paid gig as a championship ambassador. Although, for what it’s worth, Massa was already publicly speaking out against ‘Crashgate’ this season, having done so while appearing in front of guests on a superyacht rented by the Qataris in Monaco.

As it happens, 92-year-old Ecclestone now claims he doesn’t remember giving the critical interview earlier this year that prompted Massa to consider his legal options. Despite this, and everything else going against Massa, what if he was somehow, quite miraculously, to come up trumps? 

Massa wants the 2008 Singapore GP result to be annulled, but the prospects of this appear slim

Photo by: Sutton Images

Only once before has a world championship GP been effectively annulled: the 1981 season-opening bout at Kyalami, run to Formula Libre rules amid the FISA-FOCA war. But, as per Brabham and Williams fitting illegal water-cooled brakes in 1982, Tyrrell’s underweight car two years later and BAR’s secret fuel tank from 2005, it’s most often only the team(s) which commit foul play who cop the punishment. These examples were for technical breaches but, when the FIA found Michael Schumacher guilty of deliberately shunting at Jerez in 1997 and Monaco qualifying in 2006, it was the driver who was pinged rather than the entire session results erased. 

In line with the limited precedent, then, it would surely only be Renault which could be disqualified from Singapore – and that would leave Hamilton better off. He would climb a place to second in the race classification while Massa would still leave empty-handed in 12th owing to that fumbled Ferrari attempt to refuel his car.

For the 2021 Abu Dhabi title-decider, the FIA itself determined that the rules were wrongly applied. Yet the results were not overturned

And if, by some twist, there was any kind of adjustment, is there not then scope to argue that the drivers’ mindsets heading into the Brazil finale would have been altered so they drove differently? Would that race need to be called into question too?

For the 2021 Abu Dhabi title-decider, the FIA itself determined that the rules were wrongly applied. Yet the results were not overturned. All told, unfortunately for Massa, everywhere you look, the chances of 2008 being edited in a way to crown him king are slim to nil.

The more likely possibility is that Renault is removed from the Singapore 2008 result, which would only boost Hamilton a position

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images