Green light for a first compensation
The news went unnoticed because it reached newsrooms around the world at the height of the first weekend of the F1 season, at the dawn of a particularly long-awaited and controversial regulatory revolution, but the latest updates coming from lawsuit filed by Felipe Massa against Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA and the FOM for the facts of Crashgate 2008 they certainly deserve further investigation.
In fact, the former Brazilian driver obtained another important victory after that accrued in November 2025, when the High Court in London rejected the accused’s request to dismiss and gave the green light to the proceeding; this time Massa obtained – through a court order – that the FIA, the FOM and Bernie Ecclestone correspond to 250 thousand pounds (approximately 288 thousand euros) relating to the part of the expenses incurred by the former Ferrari representative in the proceedings. The sum must be paid to Massa within 14 days. The news was first reported by the British Sky Sports News.
Hamilton’s title is not in question
For completeness of information it should be noted that already in November the court had established that Massa had the right to attempt to obtain compensation for damages related to the dispute, but he had rejected his request to have a declaration according to which he should have won the 2008 Drivers’ world title.
Lewis Hamilton’s first career world championship is therefore not in question and will remain in his hands whatever the final outcome of this proceeding. However, the judge also partially accepted some of the accused’s requests and certified that a major legal question in the case should go directly to the Supreme Court for a decision.
The next steps
This additional step temporarily suspends the trial while the UK Supreme Court deliberates. THE thorniest points there are apparently three: if a case dating back to 2008 may be brought to court today; if FIA and F1 had the legal obligation to intervene when Crashgate emerged; if a pilot can obtain economic damages for a championship lost due to alleged manipulation.
The Supreme Court’s decision will not automatically decide the winner of the case, but will ‘only’ establish whether and how the trial can proceed. The ultimate goal of Massa and his legal team is to obtain compensation of £64 millionequal to over 73 million euros.
