Green light for a first compensation
The news went under the radar because it reached newsrooms around the world in the middle of the first weekend of the F1 season, at the dawn of a particularly anticipated and controversial regulatory revolution, but the latest updates from the lawsuit filed by Felipe Massa against Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA, and FOM for the events of Crashgate 2008 certainly deserve a closer look.
The former Brazilian driver has in fact achieved another important victory after the one in November 2025, when the High Court in London rejected the defendants’ request for dismissal and gave the green light to the proceedings; this time Massa has obtained – through a court order – that the FIA, FOM, and Bernie Ecclestone pay him 250,000 pounds (approximately 288,000 euros) related to the part of the costs 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 the sake of completeness, 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 controversy, but had rejected his request for a declaration stating that he should have won the 2008 Drivers’ World Championship title.
The first World Championship won in Lewis Hamilton’s career is therefore not in question and will remain in his hands regardless of the final outcome of these proceedings. The judge however also partially accepted some requests from the defendants and certified that an important legal issue in the case should go directly to the Supreme Court for a decision.
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The next steps
This further step temporarily suspends the trial while the UK Supreme Court deliberates. The thorniest points are apparently three: whether a case dating back to 2008 can be brought to court today; whether the FIA and F1 had a legal obligation to intervene when Crashgate emerged; whether a driver 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 if and how the trial can proceed. Massa and his legal team’s ultimate goal is to obtain compensation of 64 million pounds, equal to over 73 million euros.
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