Felipe Massa's 18-year quest to overturn the result of the 2008 Formula 1 season is now bound for the highest court in the land. The FIA, Formula One Management and former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone have been granted a "leapfrog" appeal that takes their challenge straight to the UK Supreme Court, skipping the Court of Appeal entirely — a move that keeps alive one of the most consequential legal fights the sport has faced.
At the centre of it is the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Renault ordered Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately, triggering a safety car that handed the race to his team-mate Fernando Alonso. Massa, leading at the time, saw his own race unravel when Ferrari released him with the fuel hose still attached; he finished 13th and out of the points. He lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by a single point at the season finale in Brazil.
Massa is suing for damages reported at up to £64 million, arguing he was denied a championship he had earned. "I lost my peace because I knew that I was robbed. Since then I was never relaxed," he has said of the years since. "This is against a race that was manipulated." He has been careful to frame the claim as one against the governance of the sport, not the result on merit: "It was a great championship from my side. I was the driver who won more races that year, who started in pole position more times as well."
The case only exists because of Ecclestone himself. In a 2023 interview with F1-Insider, the former ringmaster acknowledged that he and the late Max Mosley had learned of the Singapore manipulation during 2008 and chose to sit on it to protect F1 from a scandal. Massa's lawyers built an "unlawful means conspiracy" claim around that admission, and in October 2025 Mr Justice Jay allowed that strand to proceed to trial while dismissing others. Months later the High Court ordered the defendants to pay Massa £250,000 in costs.
Ecclestone, now 95, has changed his tune. Speaking to The Times, he denied any cover-up. "There is no way in the world anyone could change or cancel that race," he said, adding that Mosley "knew there was not enough evidence at the time to do anything." He also distanced himself from his earlier comments: "Max was not saying we should cover this up but just that it was not good for the image of Formula 1." Of the interview that started it all, he was blunt: "I didn't even remember the bloody interview."
Massa is unmoved. "I look forward to proving in court that they conspired to conceal the truth, and I will use all legal means to ensure that this injustice is corrected," he said earlier this year.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear the appeal matters beyond one driver's grievance. It hinges on whether an "unlawful means conspiracy" claim can survive against the people who ran the sport, a point of law the judges deemed of general public importance. If Massa's case clears that bar, it opens the door to litigating historic results and forces F1 to confront how it polices its own past. The 2008 title stays in Hamilton's record books for now — but the fight over how he won it is far from over.
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*Originally published on [Formula 1 News](https://newsformula.one/article/massa-crashgate-claim-heads-to-supreme-court-and-could-rattle-f1). Visit for full coverage.*