Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: March 12, 2024, 00:01 IST
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Former driver Felipe Massa mentioned he is filed a lawsuit in London in opposition to auto racing governing physique the FIA, collection proprietor Formula One Management and Bernie Ecclestone to attempt to declare the 2008 title.
SAO PAULO: Former driver Felipe Massa mentioned he’s filed a lawsuit in London in opposition to auto racing governing physique the FIA, collection proprietor Formula One Management and Bernie Ecclestone to attempt to declare the 2008 title.
Massa added on Monday he was additionally searching for a minimal of $82 million in damages, a doc obtained by The Associated Press confirmed. That quantity included prize cash he misplaced and different potential offers he would have obtained as a F1 champion.
Massa has claimed since final yr he was the “rightful” 2008 champion as a result of incident referred to as “Crashgate.” The 42-year-old Brazilian was runner-up to Lewis Hamilton by one level.
Former Ferrari and Williams driver Massa mentioned in an announcement his case can be heard on the King’s Bench Division of the High Court.
His resolution got here after months of preparatory steps that included his attorneys asking auto racing our bodies to answer to his public allegations of a breach of contract.
“I always said I was going to fight until the end,” Massa mentioned within the assertion. “Since the FIA and FOM decided not to do anything, we will seek to right this historical injustice in court. The matter is now for our lawyers and they are fully authorized to do whatever is necessary so justice in sport is served.”
His allegations relate to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the place Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed intentionally to assist then-Renault teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.
The Renault crew was ultimately punished however the outcomes stood within the fifteenth race of 18 that yr. Massa by no means received nearer to the title.
Last yr, former F1 boss Ecclestone mentioned in an interview with web site F1 Insider that he realized by the course of 2008 that Piquet Jr. crashed intentionally. He added he selected to not examine the incident till the season ended, when it was too late to alter the standings.
Piquet Jr.’s crash got here when Massa was in entrance in Singapore. A security automotive was introduced in, which squandered his lead and gave Alonso a transparent benefit as he was the one driver who had already made a pit cease to refuel. Massa went on to complete out of the factors in thirteenth place after a calamitous pit cease, whereas Hamilton completed third in that race.
Massa’s submitting mentioned he desires “a declaration that the FIA acted in breach of its own regulations in failing to investigate the circumstances of the crash promptly in 2008” and “a declaration that if the FIA had not acted in breach of its own regulations, it would have canceled or adjusted the results of the Singapore Grand Prix with the consequence that Mr Massa would have won the drivers’ championship in 2008.
“The defendants’ actions caused significant financial loss to the claimant,” the doc added. News concerning the race-fixing scandal involving Piquet Jr. emerged the next yr.
The driver’s submitting additionally mentioned the FIA’s failure to promptly examine Crashgate “constituted a most serious form of wrongdoing.”
The FIA informed the AP it is not going to remark.
FOM has not answered a request for remark from the AP.
Ecclestone couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Massa mentioned in an interview with the AP in August that he had extra proof of wrongdoing to help his case. He additionally mentioned then that he was contemplating submitting different circumstances associated to the identical incident in different international locations.
Massa was met with silence within the paddock on the final Brazilian Grand Prix, as his case in opposition to the FIA and FOM loomed. At the time, he claimed he had a ultimate deadline of Nov. 15 to get solutions from auto racing our bodies earlier than taking any motion in opposition to them.
“Many drivers do support me in this, but they don’t want to speak. I don’t regret any of this, justice is a bigger good here,” he mentioned then.
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AP reporter James Ellingworth contributed from Duesseldorf, Germany.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
