Felipe Massa’s fight for the 2008 F1 title is heading to court after a major legal victory.
A High Court judge has ruled that Massa can proceed with his £64 million lawsuit over the controversial championship he lost by just one point. The Brazilian driver believes he’s the rightful champion of that season.
The case centers around the infamous “Crashgate” scandal.
Bernie Ecclestone sparked the legal battle when he told a German journalist last year that F1 executives knew about the race-fixing incident before the 2008 season ended. Ecclestone, the FIA, and Formula One Management are all named as defendants.
The final pre-trial hearing wrapped up on October 31 in London. The FIA tried to dismiss the case, arguing that “Massa’s claim conspicuously overlooks a catalogue of his own errors or those of his team, Ferrari” that contributed to his second-place finish.
They also claimed Massa filed too late. Judge Mr. Justice Jay wasn’t buying that argument.
While three of Massa’s claims were thrown out, the judge ruled the main case can move forward to trial.
“The Court held that Mr Massa has a real prospect of success on the two English-law tort claims,” states the ruling summary. “The inducement of breach and conspiracy claims survive because they do not require Mr Massa to have a directly enforceable contractual right.”
## Hamilton’s 2008 title safe from court intervention
One thing is clear from the judge’s verdict: Lewis Hamilton won’t be stripped of his championship by the court.
“If successful, Mr Massa could in principle recover damages for lost career opportunities, but the court cannot be asked to rewrite the outcome of the 2008 Drivers’ World Championship,” the summary explains.
Justice Jay warned that Massa still faces an uphill battle, noting that “any future litigation would not necessarily be plain sailing” and that he’d need to “overcome various obstacles on causation.”
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