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Ecclestone Denies Cover‑Up as Massa’s $82 Million ‘Crashgate’ Case Set for Oct. 28 Hearing

FIA statutes make revisiting the 2008 championship outcome effectively impossible under the sport’s rules.

Overview

  • Felipe Massa’s first appearance in London’s High Court is scheduled for October 28 in his lawsuit against Formula One Management, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.
  • Massa seeks up to $82 million (£60 million) in moral, reputational and financial damages linked to the fallout from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
  • The case stems from Renault ordering Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash to trigger a safety car in Singapore, with sanctions issued in 2009 against team figures including Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.
  • Ecclestone rejects claims of a cover‑up, argues there was no mechanism to annul the race and says his 2023 remarks were misconstrued due to language issues.
  • Massa, represented by Nick de Marco KC, frames the suit as a push for accountability, while the FIA, FOM and Ecclestone dispute his claims and point to procedural limits on altering past results.