Massa Speaks Out After Filing Case: 'We Are Fighting For Justice'

Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 01:30

Former F1 driver Felipe spoke to the media after recently officially suing the FIA, Formula 1, and Bernie Ecclestone for the 2008 Championship result.

Felipe Massa officially lost the 2008 Ferrari Championship during the final lap of the final race of the season in Sao Paulo when Lewis Hamilton overtook Timo Glock only a few corners before crossing the finish line for fifth position, which was all he needed to claim the title.

However, it later came to light that one of the races in the same Championship was manipulated, not by Hamilton's McLaren team, but by Renault.

The French team ordered one of their drivers to deliberately crash during the Singapore Grand Prix, which gave their other driver- Fernando Alonso, an advantage.

Massa, who was leading the race before the crash, lost time in a pit stop, which might have otherwise gone completely differently, and fell from P1 to P13—outside of points.

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The Brazilian driver recently claimed he deserved the title for the 2008 season. However, his lawsuit against FIA, F1, and Ecclestone isn't about regaining that title.

The 42-year-old is seeking $82m in damages, which include prize money and other deals that he would have gotten as a result of becoming the Formula 1 World Champion. Massa told RacingNews365:

"I think I've said everything I'm supposed to say about that. I said in the interviews, it's something that we will fight until the end, and this is the only thing I can say, it does not depend on me anymore."

"It depends on the lawyers. We have a very, very good group of people, professional people working on that. I really believe that we have a bigger case and every possibility to win the case."

In the end, the 42-year-old added that the result of the case is not up to him anymore but asserted that he believes to be fighting for justice.

"But to be honest, it's not on me anymore. The only thing I can say is that we are fighting for the justice, because it was not fair what happened to me. As I said, that's the only thing I can say."