Lewis Hamilton won his maiden title back in 2008. It was his second season in Formula One. As a result, he made history by being the quickest racer to win his maiden title. The great Briton went on to win six more titles, equaling the great Michael Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton has not always been on the losing end of the controversies he has seen over the years, like in 2021. For instance, the 2008 season was full of controversies, especially the final race in Singapore. Fernando Alonso finally won the race in Singapore in 2008, but Lewis Hamilton went on to win his maiden title after that race.
However, Ferrari and Felipe Massa complained about the Crashgate scandal. Lately, the Brazilian driver took the case to court, claiming the results of the Singaporean GP in 2008 were due to a rigged race. In interviews, Felipe Massa said that he has no hard feelings about Lewis Hamilton. But the former Brazilian driver can’t let a rigged race decide the results of a championship. Ferrari and Massa believed they deserved to win in 2008. Recently, former FIA President Jean Todt supported Massa in his court case against the Singaporean GP in 2008 and the title eventually.
Felipe Massa Earns The Support Of The Then FIA President Jean Todt
Jean Todt told the Italian media outlet La Stampa that he never really wanted to get involved in controversies. But Todt said he can feel what Massa might be going through since the story of the planned Renault crash surfaced. Former FIA President also wished that they could have been tougher when the story first came out. Moreover, Todt has no doubt in his mind that they should have canceled the race. As per the crash gate scandal, Renault was responsible for orchestrating a crash as they wanted Fernando Alonso to win the race. In the process, the 2008 championship passed to Lewis Hamilton.
Jean Todt, who was formerly a president of the FIA and team principal at Ferrari, has endorsed Felipe Massa’s call for the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be cancelled.
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) December 6, 2023
He does not wish to be drawn into the controversy around the case but acknowledged the episode was… pic.twitter.com/MecQM9zQH3
Massa said:
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) November 12, 2023
"I am still expecting to be together and have support, because at the end, we lost the championship together,"
"I love Ferrari, it is part of my heart and I am definitely a big Ferrari fan and will be all my life […]”
"So I definitely expect Ferrari to be on my…
Back then, nobody did anything about the controversy. Lately, in an interview with RacingNews365, Felipe Massa mentioned he hopes Ferrari as a team would support him in this court case. The Brazilian driver believes that in the end, they lost the championship and the race together. Moreover, he emphasized how close Ferrari is to his heart and always will be. As of now, the driver is fighting the legal battle. And he hopes to get some financial compensation, or ideally the change in F1 2008 results would be best.
Like Massa, Someday Lewis Hamilton Can Also Go Through A Legal Battle To Change The Results Of The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP
Albeit, Hamilton won his maiden title with McLaren in 2008. He moved to Mercedes in 2013, and in 2020, he won his seventh world championship. However, there have been a lot of rivalries and controversies that Lewis Hamilton had to endure in his long and illustrious career.
He missed out narrowly on winning his eighth title in 2021. The aftermath of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix incident wreaked havoc in the F1 Motorsport. Hamilton fans claimed it was a flawed race because of the race director, Michael Masi. Later, FIA investigated the race and fired Masi. However, Hamilton’s chance to win the eighth title seemed to have gone forever.
