Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has begun a legal battle against the FIA and FOM over their handling of the investigation into the ‘Crashgate’ controversy from the 2008 Singapore GP, which ultimately cost him the world title, which went into Lewis Hamilton’s hands that year.
The Brazilian believes that there was a conspiracy that prevented the Crashgate affair from being probed until after the world title was settled.
At the moment Massa’s team is awaiting a response from the FIA and FOM over questions it has asked about the events. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said that he is following developments with interest because any civil court success could set a precedent for potential action from his squad over the 2021 title finale in Abu Dhabi, but he is skeptical about Massa getting the title back.
“I don’t think he has a case, to be honest,” said Wolff. “We are signing up to sporting regulations. They’re very clear, and you commit as a license holder. If everybody were to open up situations then the sport would be in disarray, and especially when you look at the full championships: there’s so many things that have an influence whether you win or lose that I don’t see the case to be honest.”, the Austrian said.