Formula 1, Felipe Massa in court; seeks 2008 title and 73 million euros
Former Brazilian driver Felipe Massa on Wednesday sought the 2008 world title and 73 million euros in damages for the damage caused to him by 'crashgate' at that year's Singapore Grand Prix.
This whole story started when Nelson Piquet Jr. with Renault crashed at Turn 15 of the track, this brought about the intervention of the safety car and Fernando Alonso benefited from this and won the race.
In the same race, Hamilton, who was driving for McLaren, finished third, while Massa was left out of the points. Months later, the Brazilian lost the title to the Briton by just 1 point, after Hamilton's famous overtake of Timo Glock on the final corner of the Interlagos circuit in Brazil.
Massa, now 44, accuses the FIA, Formula One Management and Bernie Ecclestone of being aware of the manipulations with this 'crashgate' and of not acting at the time.
On the other hand, Ecclestone, the FIA and FOM are trying to keep this story from becoming a big issue by saying that Massa lost the title for his mistakes in the race.
At the same time they think that in Singapore, Massa competed on equal terms with Hamilton.
'The truth is that it wasn't the safety car that changed Massa's story, but a series of mistakes by him in the race and by his team in the laps after the accident.', said Annaliese Day, lawyer for Formula One Management, reports tch.
"The reality is that during that race and the rest of the 2008 season, Hamilton was the better driver than Massa and all the other drivers.".
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