Felipe Massa says his legal challenge against Formula 1 and the FIA to overturn the outcome of the 2008 world title is about seeking 'justice for the sport' and not about pursuing financial compensation.
Massa has entrusted his case to London-based Enyo Law which formerly initiated litigation earlier this month, the firm contending that Massa was "the victim of a conspiracy committed by individuals at the highest level of F1 together with the FIA and Formula One Management".
The law firm asserts that Massa suffered substantial financial losses amounting to tens of millions of euros due to forgone earnings and bonuses as a result of the deliberate crash orchestrated by the Renault team in the 2008 Singapore GP and which spiraled into a scandal in 2009.
As a reminder, the Singapore GP 'Crashgate' scandal involved the deliberate manipulation of the race by Renault team principal Flavio Briatore to create a strategic advantage for the team's star driver Fernando Alonso.
As a result of Renault’s scheming, Massa was deprived of championship points, the Brazilian ultimately beaten to the title by Lewis Hamilton by a single point.
Speaking to Motorsport.com’s Brazilian affiliate, Massa said that he was determined to see justice prevail. While he admitted that compensation was a component of his lawyers’ litigation proceedings, it is not his primary objective.
"It's pretty clear that we are going to finish just when we have a result that we believe is correct for the justice of the sport," Massa said.
"That's why we decided to get together a very big and important legal team. I'm doing that for the sport, I'm doing that to show that manipulation is not part of our sport.
“I'm not doing that for money. I'm doing that for the justice of the sport.
"So, whatever people trying to write about the money is completely wrong.
"Compensation definitely exists. For example, now I'm spending a lot of money on that case but definitely I'm not doing that [for the money]."
It’s unclear on what legal basis the FIA could overturn the result of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship as there exists no precedent or article in the governing body’s sporting code that covers such a case 15 years after the facts.
The question of the jurisdiction competent to judge the case has also been raised, with, there again, no clear answer.
But Massa is pressing on and the former Ferrari driver is confident of achieving justice.
"I'm definitely very optimistic," he added. "It's pretty clear now that with what's happened in that Singapore race in 2008, the race was supposed to be suspended, and it was not.
"So, nobody was punished at the end, everything that happened was completely unacceptable.
"It's important that everybody knows exactly what happened in that race. And it's important that people understand that the result of the drivers' championship that year was manipulated because of that race."
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