30 January 2024 , 16:23
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Felipe Massa's former race engineer and good friend Rob Smedley has defended the Brazilian's right to chase Formula 1 glory through the legal system.
The Brazilian has assembled a legal team to challenge the outcome of the 2008 title race. On track, he lost it narrowly to Lewis Hamilton who became world champion for the first time in just his second season racing in the sport.
Massa, driving for Ferrari, briefly believed he had become world champion at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in front of an adoring home crowd. But McLaren star Hamilton overtook Timo Glock on the final lap of the race which was enough to see him move back into top spot in the drivers' standings.
That moment is not what Massa is fighting against, though. His challenge is based on Bernie Ecclestone's admission last year that he and then-FIA chief Max Mosley knew about the 'crashgate' scandal at that year's Singapore Grand Prix earlier than they had let on.
The scandal was made public the following year, by which point it was too late to cancel or change the result of the race or the championship. Massa argues that, had F1 and the FIA acted the previous year, when Ecclestone said he and Mosley were first made aware, then it may have been possible to strike the results of the race from history.
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Such an outcome would have seen a favourable points swing in the championship, as far as the Brazilian is concerned. He lost the title by one point, but Hamilton would have lost the six points he gained on Massa had the Singapore result been cancelled.
Speaking to The Race, Smedley feels his old colleague is justified in his legal bid - but warned of the can of worms it may open if successful. He said: "I've always been a person that, whatever happened yesterday, whether it was good or bad, I get up and dust myself off and move on. More pots and pans, more medals whatever you want to call it, is fairly meaningless for me. I'm interested in what's happening today and tomorrow and the day after that. But that's my personal opinion.
"What I will say is this is something that Felipe feels strongly about. It's no secret that Felipe is a really good pal of mine, he's like a little brother to me. If this is something that he feels strongly and passionately about - and he when he talks about it he's very compelling and convincing in the fact that he's doing this for what he feels is justice - everybody should have their personal right to pursue whatever they feel is just. That's the case with Felipe here.
"There's a lot of different parties involved, we're starting to look back at the past. Where this will end I've got no idea. I keep a watching brief on it, that's all I can or want to do. It’s of interest but if it does get flipped, what does that open up at that point in terms of sporting decisions, not only in Formula 1, but in the past?
"That's not to say that's right and wrong, I'm not trying to fall on either side of the fence. It's just a really interesting element of all of this. If there is a decision that favours what Felipe's gone after, that will then be very interesting in general how sport deals with past unjust decisions."