THE deadline has passed for Formula 1 and the FIA to respond to Felipe Massa’s lawyers regarding their “Crashgate” complaints.
Massa’s legal representatives sent F1 and FIA chiefs an eight-page dossier alleging a “conspiracy” over the handling of the “Crashgate” scandal during the 2008 season.
The Brazilian lost out on the world championship by a single point to Lewis Hamilton during the final race of the campaign.
Earlier in the season he dropped from first to 13th in Singapore, after Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed to help his Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso’s own title ambitions.
Piquet Jr crashed during the 14th lap, when only Alonso had pitted.
Earlier this year former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone admitted that he and ex-FIA president Max Mosley had learned of Renault’s plot in 2008 – before it all came to light the following year.
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Ecclestone, 92, said that he and Mosley kept quiet in order to “protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal”.
Massa, 42, is now seeking compensation for what his lawyers claim to be tens of millions of euros in lost earning and bonuses.
According to The Independent, a two-week deadline was initially set for F1 and the FIA to respond to the dossier.
But after they claimed that was not enough time, the deadline was extended until 4pm yesterday.
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An extract of the letter sent to F1 and the FIA read: “Simply put, Mr Massa is the rightful 2008 Driver’s Champion, and F1 and FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that cheated him out of that title.
“Mr Massa is unable to fully quantify his losses at this stage but estimates that they are likely to exceed tens of millions of Euros.
“This amount does not cover the serious moral and reputational losses suffered by Mr Massa.”
Should Massa’s legal case be successful, he could potentially be awarded Hamilton’s 2008 title.
But the former Ferrari star accepts that this is unlikely.
He said: “There are rules, and there are many things that, depending on the country, you cannot go back after 15 years to resolve a situation.”
‘A STOLEN RACE’
On his case, Massa told Esportlandia: “I consider myself with great chances of having had that title.
“If you remember Singapore, it was a steal. After Bernie Ecclestone spoke about it, we are trying to understand, legally, if there is any chance of going back.’
“So it just goes to show that I was totally wronged by what happened that year, in a stolen race.
“This made me lift the antenna and go after justice. I’m not a lawyer, but everyone knows, I was clearly wronged and I think justice is part of our fight to get what happened right.
“That was a stolen run. It was manipulation, which is a very serious thing. It wasn’t an engine that broke down. There was also an engine that broke, but that’s part of the game.
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“They made Nelsinho Piquet crash because he wanted to help his team-mate, who was last in the race, to win. They totally did a manipulation for a result.”
Asked about his Crashgate comments by Reuters, Ecclestone said: “I don’t remember any of this.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
