Mr Massa argues that, but for the FIA’s handling of the crash, he would have won the drivers’ championship.
These declarations treat the court as a sports ‘debating club’, asking it to embark upon a counterfactual exercise concerning the ‘refereeing’ of a sporting event which took place nearly 17 years ago.
— David Quest KC, attorney for former F1 head Bernie Ecclestone, in a statement concerning the lawsuit filed by former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. Massa finished second in the 2008 F1 championship, one point behind McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton. Massa’s lawsuit alleges F1 failed to properly handle “Crashgate” during the 2008 season, wherein rival constructor Renault ordered their driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash his car during the Singapore Grand Prix in order to stage a win for his teammate Fernando Alonso, thereby leading to a safety car, compromising his strategy and costing Massa the world championship. Quest continued, noting, Massa’s claim would “deprive Mr Hamilton of his 2008 title” despite Hamilton being “equally exposed to the crash.”
Anneliese Day KC, for Formula One Management, wrote, “In truth, it was not the deployment of the safety car which changed the course of history for Mr Massa, but rather a series of subsequent racing errors by him and his team during the remaining 47 laps of the race.”
John Mehrzad KC, attorney for the FIA, agreed, saying Massa’s claim is as “torturous as it is overly ambitious” and “conspicuously overlooks a catalogue of his own errors.” Those “errors” famously include Massa driving away from a pit stop prematurely with the fuel hose still attaching and knocking down a member of his pit crew.
Ecclestone, the FIA and Formula One Management are seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.
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