Ecclestone on Massa legal battle: ‘Hamilton could have sued after Abu Dhabi’

Ex-Ferrari driver Massa is taking legal action against F1 bosses, with his lawyers claiming that he lost that year’s title to Lewis Hamilton due to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal involving Renault at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Massa’s legal bid was prompted by an interview with Ecclestone earlier this year, in which the 92-year-old admitted that he and then-FIA boss Max Mosley had been aware of Renault fixing the Singapore race but could do nothing about it. 

Ecclestone has since told Reuters that he has no recollection of giving the interview. 

Massa’s legal representation have publicly stated that they hope Hamilton will support Massa’s case in the interests of sporting integrity.

The Brazilian has insisted that he is seeking to gain “justice for the sport” rather than recouping the “tenths of millions of euros” his legal team claim he has missed out on.

But Ecclestone suggested that Massa’s legal challenge is motivated by money, while he also dismissed the likelihood of it being successful.

“The Massa clan is only in it for the money. But the chances of that are zero,” Ecclestone told Swiss newspaper Blick.

Ecclestone said that Hamilton could have taken similar action against F1 and the FIA after his controversial defeat to Max Verstappen at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

“Lawsuits against the FIA could have been filed by Hamilton with Mercedes after the not very clean 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi,” he added.