Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says a successful outcome to Felipe Massa’s legal challenge over the result of the 2008 championship could set a precedent for other disputed title deciders in Formula 1 and leave the sport in “disarray”.
Former Ferrari driver Massa is taking legal action against both Formula 1 and the FIA over the outcome of the 2008 world championship, which Lewis Hamilton won by one point.
Massa is alleging that both F1 and the governing body knew that year’s Singapore Grand Prix had been fixed by the Renault team, which instructed Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash his car early in the race to benefit teammate Fernando Alonso.
The timing of the crash meant Alonso rose from the back of the pack into the net lead to win the race, having made an early pit stop shortly before the smash.
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Pole-sitter Massa, who had been comfortably leading the race, did not score after his mechanics failed to detach the fuel hose from his car during the frenetic post-safety car pit stops.
Hamilton finished third, extending his title advantage to seven points over Massa.
The scandal broke during the following year when Piquet Jr was sacked by the Renault team and went public with his role in the so-called ‘crashgate’ affair.
While an FIA investigation found the team guilty of conspiracy and race fixing, by then it was too late to annul the result of the race, with the end-of-year FIA prize-giving gala the hard deadline for any changes to the championship classification per the regulations.
But earlier this year former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said he, former FIA president Max Mosley and former race director Charlie Whiting had known about the conspiracy before the end of the year but chose to keep it secret to avoid plunging the sport into scandal.
Those comments prompted legal action from Massa, who now claims he is “the victim of a conspiracy” because “F1 and the FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct” of the Renault team at that year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, whose team retained legal counsel for a possible challenge to the outcome of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, said he was watching the case with interest.
“It is interesting to follow,” he said.
“It’s clearly not something that anybody saw coming.
“The rules are pretty clear in Formula 1. Is there a civil case behind it? It will certainly set a precedent, whatever it is.
“The FIA commented on the 2021 race with a clear statement. So that’s why we’re looking at it with interest.
“We’re looking from the sidelines with curiosity.”
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The season-ending 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is one of the sport’s most infamous, having decided that year’s drivers championship in Max Verstappen favour after he and Hamilton arrived at the final round tied on points.
Hamilton had been comfortably leading the grand prix and was on track for a record-breaking eighth championship when a crash by former Williams driver Nicholas Latifi on lap 53 of 58 triggered a safety car.
Verstappen switched to a set of soft tyres during the caution, but Hamilton didn’t have enough of a buffer over the Dutchman to do the same, forcing him to stay out on used rubber.
The time required to clean up the crash should have seen the race finish behind the safety car with Hamilton in the lead, but former race director Michael Masi felt compelled to ensure the grand prix finished under green flags, a position impressed upon him by the teams during the year.
Masi allowed the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen — but not the other lapped cars further down the field — to unlap themselves to generate a straight-shootout scenario and restarted the race immediately.
The regulations required one lap’s notice before restarting a race when cars are unlapping themselves, causing outrage on the Mercedes pit wall.
The stewards later found that Masi had acted within the regulations given a clause that gives the race director “overriding authority” over the use of the safety car.
Masi was removed from the race directorship for the following season and later left the FIA, though an inquest into the incident found he had acted in good faith and that his position as race director was insufficiently supported.
His responsibilities were subsequently divided among more people in a restructure of race control for following seasons.
There are parallels between 2008 and 2021, with the champions in both cases being the beneficiary of actions beyond their control but allegedly in the grasp of the sport’s authorities.
However, Wolff believes there’s little prospect of Massa overturning the 2008 result.
The FIA’s international sporting code requires that all participants recognise the FIA International Court of Appeal as the highest judicial body on sporting matters as a condition of entering a sanctioned championship.
The clause is designed to prevent legal warfare over contentious race outcomes.
A successful case for Massa could therefore open an uncomfortable can of worms for the FIA, with any number of potentially controversial incidents seen to have decided the championship being open to legal challenge.
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“For me this is like watching a telenovela or a soap [opera],” Wolff said.
“I don’t think he has a case, to be honest. We are signing up to sporting regulations. They are very clear. You are committing to them as a licence holder.
“If everybody were to open up situations, then the sport would be in disarray, especially when you look at the full-length championships — there are so many things that have an influence on whether you win or lose that I don’t see the case, to be honest.”
But the FIA regulations may not preclude Massa from taking action against individuals or the organising bodies themselves over civil matters rather than seeking a sporting outcome.
“On the civil case side, I don’t know,” Wolff said.
“Let’s evaluate whether there are some damages that could be claimed.”