Massa asks London High Court to allow 2008 F1 title challenge

Felipe Massa asked a London court on Wednesday to allow a long-running legal challenge over the 2008 Formula One world championship to proceed, arguing that a deliberate crash at the Singapore Grand Prix and subsequent failures by F1 authorities cost him the title he lost by one point to Lewis Hamilton. The three-day preliminary hearing at the High Court ended without an immediate ruling, with Mr Justice Jay saying judgment would be reserved for a later date.

Massa is seeking roughly £64 million in damages from former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Management and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, and is also asking the court for declarations that the FIA breached its own regulations. His claim contends that Renault ordered Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately in Singapore to trigger a safety car that advantaged teammate Fernando Alonso, and that officials, including Ecclestone, were aware of wrongdoing during the 2008 season but failed to investigate. The deliberate crash and the safety car period, Massa’s lawyers say, disrupted his race strategy; he finished 13th after a chaotic pit stop in which he left with a fuel hose still attached.