Elipe Massa has opened up about his ongoing legal battle with Formula One, the FIA and former rights holder Bernie Ecclestone over the loss of the 2008 title to Lewis Hamilton in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal.
The Brazilian driver has spoken of his hopes for a quicker resolution, citing the ‘costly’ nature of the fight.
Massa launched legal action with Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados in March this year seeking to regain the 2008 championship he was wrongfully stripped of.
The decision follows revelations last year in which former F1 chief Ecclestone admitted covering up the “Crashgate” scandal orchestrated by himself, racing director Charlie Whiting and FIA president Max Mosley during the 2008 season.
Nelson Pike Junior’s intentional crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was organized by Renault Pitwall to secure Fernando Alonso’s victory.
At that time, Massa was leading the race, but the accident began to stop in a tragic standpoint of Ferrari and fell to 15th before arrival.
This misfortune is essential. Because the trout finally lost the 2008 title in Hamilton in the season’s finals in Sao Paulo.
The scandal ‘Crash Gate revealed only after Renault pulled the youngest in the middle of the 2009 season. Hoping for justice after an almost five-month legal battle that has drained Massa’s fortunes, the 43-year-old former racing driver told media:
“I hope that the right thing happens, for justice, for something that is not part of the sport that punished me so severely. That’s what we stand for and I think it’s the right thing to do, especially after 16 years.
And then you end up hearing things you never thought were true.” After that, I decided to bring together a large team, professionals, divided into many different countries.
“They really believe it was unfair, what happened for sport, and I definitely paid. When we heard Bernie’s comment last year, after that, we started to put things together, and we started to fight, to analyze things professionally and legally, because it was not part of the sport.
“I never thought I would be part of something like this in my life. “It’s not easy. It’s also very expensive, a lot of money, so I really hope it ends soon.
However, we have been waiting for justice and can only hope that the truth will come out and justice will prevail.