Felipe Massa’s 64 million pounds ($83 million) claim against Formula 1, its governing body the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone can go to trial, a High Court judge ruled on Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 world championship in 2008 is the subject of legal action, with Brazilian driver Massa saying he is the rightful winner of the title.
The Brazilian driver lost by a single point after Nelson Piquet Jr. supposedly deliberately crashed at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ecclestone, who was the boss of F1 for four decades before he was deposed in 2017, suggested in 2023 that series executives were aware of the cover-up before the 2008 campaign concluded.
Ecclestone, the FIA and Formula One Management are defending the claims.
Last month, they asked the court in London to throw out the case, saying Massa performed poorly in the 2008 Singapore GP, ultimately leading to him losing the championship, and arguing that the claim was brought too late.
In a written judgment issued ahead of this week’s Las Vegas GP, Justice Robert Jay said the case could go ahead.
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He said the Brazilian driver had “no real prospect of establishing that the FIA’s duties were owed to him” but that “he does have a real prospect of proving at trial all the components of his unlawful means conspiracy.”
“The same analysis applies to the inducement claim.”
In the ruling, the judge dismissed part of Massa’s claim, saying he “reached the firm conclusion that it is clear that declaratory relief would not be granted in this case.”
At a hearing in October, the court heard that as part of his claim Massa was also seeking various declarations regarding the FIA’s conduct.
Justice Jay said, “In my judgment, Mr. Massa is not entitled to claim declaratory relief for reputational or publicity reasons. The present claim cannot of course rewrite the outcome of the 2008 drivers’ world championship, but if declaratory relief along the lines sought were granted that is how Mr. Massa would present his victory to the world and it is also how it would be perceived by the public.
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“The second declaration is in the terms that were it not for the FIA’s breaches of duty, Mr. Massa would have won the championship: in other words, that he should have won the championship.
“The FIA, as an international sporting body outside the reach of this Court, could and would simply ignore any such declaration.
“That underscores its lack of practical utility, but the declaration comes too close in my view to impinging on the right of the FIA to govern its own affairs.”
Race crash supposedly deliberate
At the 2008 Singapore GP, Renault staged a win for Fernando Alonso by ordering Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash, which brought out a safety car and meant Massa, who was leading the race for Ferrari, finished in 13th after his strategy was compromised.
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The following season, Piquet revealed he was under instruction by his bosses to crash deliberately.
Massa’s lawyers claim Ecclestone knew the crash was deliberate and he and the FIA failed to investigate it.
At the October hearing, Nick De Marco KC, for Massa, said in written submissions that the defendants could not “establish that Mr. Massa’s claims have no real prospect of success.”
Adding Massa had “a real prospect of succeeding on all of the grounds,” he said the matter should go to a full trial.
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David Quest KC, for Ecclestone, said Massa’s claims were “a misguided attempt to reopen the results of the 2008 F1 drivers’ championship.”
John Mehrzad KC, for the FIA, said Massa’s claim is “torturous as it is overly ambitious” and “conspicuously overlooks a catalogue of his own errors.”
Anneliese Day KC, for Formula One Management, said in written submissions that the claim would “fail.”
