Lewis Hamilton’s maiden world title is heading back into the spotlight, as Felipe Massa’s £64m legal claim against Formula One Management (FOM), the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone has been given the green light to proceed to trial by a High Court judge in London.
A High Court judge has ruled that Felipe Massa’s £64m case against Formula 1, the sport’s governing body the FIA, and former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone may advance to a full trial.
The lawsuit centres on Massa’s assertion that he — not Lewis Hamilton — is the rightful champion of the 2008 season. Hamilton’s first title came by a single point, but Massa’s team argue that the outcome was tainted.
The flashpoint was the infamous 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, where Renault orchestrated a victory for Fernando Alonso by instructing Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately. The resulting safety car destroyed Massa’s race strategy as he had been leading for Ferrari, ultimately dropping him to 13th and costing him crucial points.
It wasn’t until the following year that Piquet disclosed the crash had been ordered. Massa’s legal team claim Ecclestone knew of the deliberate incident at the time and that both he and the FIA failed to act.
Ecclestone — who ran F1 for four decades before his exit in 2017 — suggested in 2023 that senior figures in the sport had indeed known about the scandal before the 2008 season concluded.
All three defendants — Ecclestone, the FIA and FOM — are contesting Massa’s claim.
In submissions last month, they pushed for the case to be dismissed entirely, arguing that Massa’s own performance, not the crash conspiracy, ruined his Singapore result, and further stating that the claim had been filed far too late.
On Thursday, in a written judgment, Mr Justice Jay said the matter should move forward.
While he noted that Massa had “no real prospect of establishing that the FIA’s duties were owed to him”, the judge concluded 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,” Mr Justice Jay added.
However, he did strike out the part of the case involving declarations, saying he had “reached the firm conclusion that it is clear that declaratory relief would not be granted in this case”.
Speaking in 2023, Massa said that the situation was “not fair”.
At a hearing in October, the court also heard that Massa had been seeking specific declarations about how the FIA behaved during the affair.
But Mr Justice Jay rejected that avenue: “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.
“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.”
Following the ruling, Massa issued a statement: “This is a tremendous victory, a great day for me, for justice, and for everyone who loves Formula 1. The truth will prevail at trial. We will leave no stone unturned. Every document, every communication, every piece of evidence about conspiracy between the defendants will be brought forward.”
He added that he felt “more determined and confident than ever”.
The FIA responded with its own statement, noting that the conspiracy claim would proceed “albeit on significantly narrowed grounds and subject to reformulation of the claim by Mr Massa, the French law expert evidence mentioned above, and any applications for permission to appeal”.
During the October hearing, Massa’s barrister Nick De Marco KC argued in written submissions that the defendants could not “establish that Mr Massa’s claims have no real prospect of success”, insisting he had “a real prospect of succeeding on all of the grounds”.
Representing Ecclestone, David Quest KC called the lawsuit “a misguided attempt to reopen the results of the 2008 F1 drivers’ championship”.
John Mehrzad KC, acting for the FIA, described Massa’s claim as “torturous as it is overly ambitious” and said it “conspicuously overlooks a catalogue of his own errors”.
Meanwhile, Anneliese Day KC for Formula One Management stated in written submissions that the claim would “fail”.
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