Hamilton Would Give Up His 2008 Title To Have 2021 Says Windsor Amid Massa Lawsuit
F1
F1 commentator Peter Windsor suggested during his recent YouTube livestream that Lewis Hamilton would give Felipe Massa the 2008 title if it meant he could have 2021.
On Monday, March 11th, 2024, the representatives of former F1 driver Felipe Massa filed a legal action against Formula 1, the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's former owner.
The Brazilian racing driver is now seeking $82m in damages, which include prize money and the potential deals that Massa would have gotten had he been crowned the 2008 World Champion.
The former title-winning Williams team manager Peter Windsor, who has supported Massa's legal action, pointed out similarities between the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix (where Massa lost the championship) and the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (where Lewis Hamilton lost the championship). As Planet F1 reports, he said on his live stream:
What about Abu Dhabi ’21? That was an absolute error of a huge proportion, made at the wrong time and it resulted in Max Verstappen winning the World Championship. That was a one-race error, but as a result Max won the World Championship.
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Windsor suggests that Massa's legal proceedings could potentially lead to other F1 drivers and teams suing F1 or the FIA over similar administrative errors in the past.
"So on the basis of what Felipe's doing about 2008 in Singapore, in theory there is certainly a lot more discussion to be had about what happened at Abu Dhabi '21."
In 2021, Michael Masi (FIA's race director at the time) didn't apply correct safety car rules during the season's last race. In short, that led to Lewis Hamilton losing the Championship battle to Verstappen on the race's final lap.
"In my view, the last lap should not have been counted and Lewis should have won that race and he should've been World Champion. It's an interesting point, isn't it?"
"You could never ask him this in a press conference because he would never give an honest answer, because it’s so hypothetical and doesn’t want to go down those paths again."
However, the former Williams team manager added that he believed Hamilton would give Massa the 2008 title if he could get the one for 2021.
"But, deep down inside, if you said to Lewis Hamilton: 'If you lost the 2008 World Championship to Felipe Massa, but you got the '21 Championship back, would you be comfortable with that?' I think he'd be very comfortable with that."
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