Ecclestone on Massa: 'It's the right thing to do'
General
On Monday evening, after months, confirmation finally arrived: Felipe Massa is officially going to court over the missed world title in 2008. Dhe FIA, FOM and Bernie Ecclestone are being dragged before the High Court in London and at the same time, Lewis Hamilton must therefore officially fear losing his title. Ecclestone welcomes Massa's going to court.
The former Formula 1 owner reveals this in conversation with AP: "If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong. I cannot say anything about the outcome and what will happen. From his point of view, it is better that an English judge comes up with a verdict. It will be of more help for him."
Massa narrowly missed out on the 2008 world title, which was won by Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the final race. According to Massa, he, and not Hamilton, should have won the title. He argues that the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix should not have counted towards the championship. Without that race, Massa would have had more points than Hamilton.
Crashgate
Nelson Piquet Jr. allegedly crashed deliberately to give Fernando Alonso an advantage in that race. Massa therefore believes the results of that race should have been invalidated. The scandal is also known as 'Crashgate'. Formula 1 has always said they only knew about irregularities in 2009.
But: Ecclestone revealed in an interview last year that he did know as early as 2008 that Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed. With that, Massa thinks he is entitled to more than second place in that year's championship.
So Massa is now taking FIA, FOM and Ecclestone to court. Indeed, had the F1 management intervened during the 2008 season, Massa would have accumulated more points than Hamilton at the end of the year.