Bernie Ecclestone has expressed his frustration at Felipe Massa for challenging the 2008 world championship outcome through legal channels.
Felipe Massa, now 42 and retired from Formula 1, acknowledges it was the disclosure by the former F1 CEO, Ecclestone, that top officials were informed of the ‘crashgate’ incident before 2008 ended, which motivated his pursuit for justice.
“We want to bring home the trophy,” Massa’s solicitor Bernardo Viana was quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport this week.
“It’s not about money. As Ecclestone himself admitted, the results of (the 2008) Singapore (GP) should have been cancelled completely.”
If that scenario had played out, Massa would have been the rightful 2008 world champion, instead of Lewis Hamilton, who officially clinched it by a solitary point.
However, the former F1 head honcho, Ecclestone, aged 92, questions Massa’s intentions.
“The Massa clan is only interested in the money,” he told Roger Benoit, the seasoned journalist for the Swiss newspaper Blick.
“Hamilton and Mercedes could also have filed a lawsuit against the FIA after the not-very-clean finale in Abu Dhabi in 2021,” Ecclestone added.
