Ex-Method 1 driver Felipe Massa faces a wait to seek out out if his £64 million authorized declare towards former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, Method One Administration, and its governing physique the FIA, can go forward.
The Brazilian claims he’s the rightful winner of the 2008 world championship, which he misplaced to Lewis Hamilton by a single level after a deliberate crash by a 3rd driver on the Singapore Grand Prix earlier within the season.
Massa is bringing claims for breach of contract or obligation, together with his legal professionals saying Mr Ecclestone knew the crash involving Nelson Piquet Jr was deliberate, and that he and the FIA failed to analyze it.
Mr Ecclestone, the FIA and Method One Administration are defending the claims, and requested the Excessive Court docket in London to throw out the case.
On Friday, after a three-day listening to, Mr Justice Jay stated: “Judgment will be reserved to be handed down at a future date.”
On the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix Renault staged a win for Fernando Alonso by ordering his teammate Piquet to crash, which introduced out a security automobile and meant Massa, who was main the race for Ferrari, completed in thirteenth with no factors after his technique was compromised.
Within the confusion following the incident, Massa drove away prematurely from a pit cease with a gas hose nonetheless connected to his automobile, flattening a member of his group and driving into the trail of one other automobile. The next season, Piquet revealed he had been below instruction by his bosses to crash intentionally.
Mr Ecclestone, who was the boss of F1 for 4 many years earlier than he was deposed in 2017, recommended in 2023 that the game’s executives had been conscious of the cover-up earlier than the 2008 marketing campaign concluded.
On Wednesday, legal professionals for the defendants stated Massa carried out poorly within the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, finally resulting in him dropping the championship.
Additionally they stated the declare had been introduced too late.
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Felipe Massa spoke to Sky Sports activities in 2023 in regards to the ‘crashgate’ scenario and stated it was ‘not honest’.
In written submissions, Mr Ecclestone’s lawyer David Quest KC stated Massa’s claims “are a misguided attempt to reopen the results of the 2008 F1 Drivers’ Championship”.
Massa, who attended the listening to, is claiming damages for lack of earnings and sponsorship.
He’s additionally in search of declarations that the FIA acted in breach of its personal laws, and that if it had not achieved so, it will have cancelled or adjusted the outcomes of the Singapore Grand Prix and he would have gained the Drivers’ Championship.
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Mercedes group principal Toto Wolff stated in 2023 he would Felipe Massa’s 2008 authorized case ‘with curiosity’ as the result will ‘set a precedent’
Nick De Marco KC, for Massa, stated in written submissions that the defendants “cannot establish that Mr Massa’s claims have no real prospect of success”, and argued that the case ought to go to a full trial.
He stated on Friday that the declarations Massa seeks are the “most effective means of doing justice in his case”.
