Massa added on Monday he was also seeking a minimum of
Massa has claimed since last year he was the “rightful” 2008 champion due to the incident known as “Crashgate.” The 42-year-old Brazilian, who never won the drivers' championship, was runner-up to
Former Ferrari and Williams driver Massa said in a statement his case would be heard at the King’s
His decision came after months of preparatory steps that included his lawyers asking auto racing bodies to reply to his public allegations of a breach of contract.
“I always said I was going to fight until the end,” Massa said in the statement. “Since the FIA and FOM decided not to do anything, we will seek to right this historical injustice in court. The matter is now for our lawyers and they are fully authorized to do whatever is necessary so justice in sport is served.”
His allegations relate to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, where
The
Last year, former F1 boss Ecclestone said in an interview with website F1 Insider that he learned through the course of 2008 that Piquet Jr. crashed deliberately. He added he chose not to investigate the incident until the season ended, when it was too late to change the standings.
Piquet Jr.’s crash came when Massa was in front in
Massa’s filing said he wants “a declaration that the FIA acted in breach of its own regulations in failing to investigate the circumstances of the crash promptly in 2008” and “a declaration that if the FIA had not acted in breach of its own regulations, it would have canceled or adjusted the results of the Singapore Grand Prix with the consequence that
"The defendants’ actions caused significant financial loss to the claimant,” the document added. News about the race-fixing scandal involving Piquet Jr. emerged the following year.
The driver’s filing also said the FIA's failure to promptly investigate Crashgate “constituted a most serious form of wrongdoing.”
Ecclestone told the
“If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong," Ecclestone said. "I cannot say anything about the outcome and what will happen. From his point of view, it is better that an English judge comes up with a verdict. It will be of more help for him.”
The FIA told the AP it will not comment.
The AP has also asked FOM for comment.
Massa said in an interview with the AP in August that he had more evidence of wrongdoing to support his case. He also said then that he was considering filing other cases related to the same incident in other countries.
Massa was met with silence in the paddock at the last Brazilian Grand Prix, as his case against the FIA and FOM loomed. At the time, he claimed he had a final deadline of
“Many drivers do support me in this, but they don’t want to speak. I don’t regret any of this, justice is a bigger good here,” he said then.
___
AP reporter
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
, source