15 September 2023 , 13:10
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Toto Wolff believes victory for Felipe Massa in his lawsuit over the 2008 Formula 1 title could set a precedent which could spark legal action over Lewis Hamilton's Abu Dhabi heartbreak in 2021.
Infamously, Hamilton lost out to Max Verstappen on the final lap of that Grand Prix. It meant the Red Bull racer won both the race and the championship, but Mercedes were left furious over how it had been decided.
After months of argument, the FIA admitted race director Michael Masi's "human error" had played a major role in changing the outcome of the championship. Verstappen, though, kept hold of his first title and has gone from strength to strength, while Hamilton has not won a race since.
After cruelly missing out on an eighth world title, Massa is threatening to take away his first. The Brazilian has hired a team of lawyers to take action against Formula 1 and the FIA after ex-supremo Bernie Ecclestone claimed both he and former FIA chief Max Mosley knew about the 2008 'Crashgate' scandal before it became public.
It remains to be seen whether Massa has any chance of overturning the result of the championship in a legal fight. If he were to be successful in that bid, the former Ferrari racer would inherit the title from Hamilton.
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Mercedes chief Wolff, however, said it will be "interesting to follow" the case and hinted that a successful outcome for Massa might benefit his team, looking back on that fateful race in Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes protested the result of the Grand Prix at the time but, when that was dismissed, opted against further legal action as, even if the race result was thrown out, Verstappen would still have won the title over Hamilton.
But he suggested the Silver Arrows might be willing to revisit that decision if Massa were to have success in his own legal fight. The Austrian said: "This is clearly not something that anybody saw coming, the rules are pretty clear in Formula 1.
If there's a civil case behind it, it would certainly set a precedent, whatever it is. We are looking from the sidelines with curiosity. The FIA commented on the 2021 race with a clear statement, so that's why we were looking at it with interest."