Mistakes not 'Crashgate' cost Massa title, court hears

Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa "performed very poorly" at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 - the scene of the 'Crashgate' scandal - which cost him the race win and ultimately the drivers' world championship, a court has heard.

The Brazilian, 44, is taking legal action over an alleged "conspiracy" that he says denied him the title, which was won by Lewis Hamilton for McLaren.

Massa was at the High Court in London on Wednesday for the opening day of a three-day hearing, where he is seeking about £64m plus interest from former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1 and governing body the FIA.

Massa was leading the race when Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately to trigger a safety car, which helped team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win from 15th on the grid.

Ferrari pitted Massa during the safety-car period but messed up the stop, which dropped him down the field and out of the points.

Ecclestone's lawyer David Quest said Massa and Ferrari's mistakes rather than Piquet's crash led to him missing out on the title.

Massa's case rests on an interview Ecclestone gave to F1 Insider in 2023, in which he said he and then FIA president Max Mosley knew Piquet's crash was done on purpose but took no action in an attempt to "protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal".

Quest said Ecclestone, who turned 95 on Tuesday, "does not remember giving this interview".

The defendants argue Massa knew enough to sue in 2008 and 2009, meaning the case should be thrown out for being brought too late.

However, Massa's lawyers say he did not know enough to bring a lawsuit until the Ecclestone interview was published.

Hamilton clinched the title after overtaking Toyota's Timo Glock for fifth place on the last lap of the season finale in Massa's home race - which he won - in Brazil, three races after Singapore.

Massa was leading the inaugural race in Singapore from pole position when Piquet deliberately crashed at Turn 17 on lap 14 to bring out a safety car.

That benefitted Alonso, who had made an earlier pit stop than his competitors.

During the safety-car period, Ferrari botched Massa's pit stop and he left the pits with the fuel hose attached to the car, accidentally knocking over a crew member.

He rejoined the track towards the back of the field and finished 13th, outside the points.

Hamilton, who came third, increased his championship lead over Massa to seven points.

At the time, Piquet described the shunt into the wall as a "simple mistake".

However, when Renault dropped him during the 2009 season, he revealed he had been asked by the team to deliberately crash and his actions led to an investigation which resulted in Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and chief technical officer Pat Symonds being banned from F1 for several years.

Alonso was cleared of wrongdoing and the FIA found no evidence he was aware of the plan.

Briatore is now executive adviser to the Alpine team, while Symonds is part of the Andretti Cadillac F1 programme.