Felipe Massaās $80M-plus F1 āCrashgateā lawsuit heads to court this week: What to know - The Athletic https://share.google/m6HyNgEwYPLg1yMm2
I wonder if that's why MG is so careful in her intentions with her brother and his wife š¤
Thanks both for bringing up this super interesting fact.
Long long talk.. so Letās try to sum it up:
The 2008 Formula 1 season was one of the most dramatic and controversial in modern history. The title fight came down to Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and a super young Sir Lewis (unnameable Team) separated by only a handful of points.
Everything changed in September 2008 at the Singapore Grand Prix, when Nelson Piquet Jr. Aka Jrā then driving for Renault F1 Team, now Alpine ā deliberately crashed under team orders to help his teammate - hello šš» Fernando Alonso - win the race.
This later became known as Crashgate, one of the sportās biggest scandals. Renault was sanctioned, and team principal Flavio Briatore was initially banned (guess whoās back ? ).
The championship reached its climax at Interlagos, Massaās home circuit, for the final Brazilian Grand Prix of the season. ( Good old times, real audience, real circuits from the beginning to the end)
Felipe won the race, and for a few minutes was mathematically world champion ā until Lewis overtook Timo Glock in the final laps, finishing fifth and taking the title by one single point (Hamilton 98 pts ā Massa 97).
In 2024, Felipe Massa filed a lawsuit in the United Kingdom against the FIA, Formula One Management, and Bernie Ecclestone, claiming he was the victim of a āhistoric injustice.ā
He is seeking around Ā£60ā64 million (ā ā¬70ā90 million) in damages and formal recognition as the rightful 2008 world champion.
Ferrari has not joined the lawsuit.
This week, the first preliminary hearings are being held in London, where the court will decide whether the case proceeds to full discovery or is dismissed.
Itās also worth noting that, although Crashgate was proven and Renault was punished, the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix results were never annulled ā meaning the FIA never reassigned championship points or declared Massa champion retroactively.
3. To Understand the Emotional Weight of the Crashgate
I can still remember it, but picture it: a Brazilian driver, in a Ferrari, winning the championship at Interlagos ā the final race of the season.
He crosses the line first; the crowd erupts. For a few magical minutes, heās world champion. Green-and-gold flags wave, fans scream, cry, sing. And then, silence.
And that same Brazilian driver, robbed of his crown in front of his people, was directly harmed in the standings by another Brazilian ā Piquet Jr. ā who, just a few races earlier in Singapore, had staged an accident.
And thatās not speculation ā itās his own confession.
4. My Point of View on the case
As a human and a tifosa, I completely empathize with Felipe ā I remember 2008 vividly: Interlagos, his victory at home, Brasilians & Tifosiās tears.
Even I would always love to take a title away from that team, I agree with Ferrariās posture: from a sporting perspective once a championship has been won, celebrated, and recorded, you canāt truly rewrite it.
The sense of injustice is legitimate, the desire for vindication deeply human ā but the outcome has already become part of history.
And honestly, if Alonso ā the direct beneficiary of Crashgate ā had won the title, then yes, this whole lawsuit would feel absolutely justified. I would have also declared war.ā ļø But he didnāt.
It was won by a third party, Sir Lewis Hamilton, who at that time drove for my that teamā the same Team that only a year earlier had been fined US $100 million (ā ā¬100 million) and excluded from the Constructorsā Championship for the Spygate, but thatās another story. Anyway That alone tells you what kind of chaotic era this was.
The result, however, remains etched in collective memory ā with all its intensity and bitterness. So we need to accept it
5. Brazilian Coverage and Sentiment
Brazilian media are following the case closely, emphasizing its symbolic importance for national sport.
Public sentiment is overwhelmingly sympathetic toward Massa ā heās seen as the wronged hero, the driver who brought Ferrari glory and heartbreak at the same time.
The Piquet family, as always, remains a complex presence: carrying controversy because of Nelson Jr.ās primary role in the scandal.
Thereās a massive bias against Junior in this whole affair. And Iāll go even further: in the Brazilian collective imagination, this story carries much more weight that Bolsonaro-Senior situation.
Because this feels transversal, like something that robbed everyone equally ā ironically actually also Bolsonaro did according to justice, but the difference is that politics always leaves a side ready to defend you; in Crashgate, there isnāt one.
6. What does it mean for MV aka Blondie and our saga?
From a PR / Blondie perspective, this situation is a potential time-bomb.
If the case enters full discovery, it could explode into a major media storm, reopening long-buried wounds and reigniting Brazilās most emotional chapter in F1 and it could happen during this year Gp week.
Because this isnāt just about sport ā itās an internal Brasilian drama between two of its own drivers, charged with national emotion. If the court moves forward, itāll be a reputational earthquake.
That would mean for Blondie, surely a lot of questioning and for Mg & family a real big big problem for showing up their faces at the GP. More than Senior & Bolsonaro.