who is Felipe Massa? Lewis Hamilton’s first Formula One world championship is the subject of legal action after Felipe Massa filed a lawsuit against Formula One, its governing body, the FIA, and the sport’s former supremo Bernie Ecclestone in London’s high court on Monday. Massa believes he is the rightful winner of the 2008 title he lost to Hamilton by a point. Renault staged a win for Fernando Alonso at the Singapore Grand Prix by ordering Nelson Piquet Jr to crash in the other car. Ferrari’s Massa, leading at the time of Piquet’s smash, finished 13th, before losing the championship at the final round in Brazil. Piquet revealed the following season that he was under instruction to deliberately crash. However, Ecclestone, who oversaw F1 for four decades before he was deposed in 2017, said last year that the sport’s executives were aware of the cover-up before the 2008 campaign concluded. Lawyers acting on Massa’s behalf want the FIA to acknowledge it “breached its regulations by failing to promptly investigate” Piquet’s crash as well as seeking compensation for Massa. The Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados said: “On March 11, 2024, Felipe Massa filed a lawsuit in the High Court in London, England against Formula One Management Limited (FOM), Bernard Charles Ecclestone and the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA). “Mr Massa is seeking declarations that the FIA breached its regulations by failing to promptly investigate Nelson Piquet Junior’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, and that had it acted properly, Mr Massa would have won the drivers’ championship that year. Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA’s failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit. Attempts to find an amicable resolution have been unsuccessful, leaving Mr Massa with no choice but to initiate legal proceedings.” Hamilton, who has won a record-equalling seven titles, said last September: “If that’s the direction that Felipe wants to go, that’s his decision. “I prefer not to focus on the past. Whether it’s 15 years ago, two years ago, or three days ago, I’m only interested in the present.” Ecclestone said on Monday: “If he had asked me, I would have said it was the complete right thing to do, to sue, and to let an English judge decide what is right and wrong. I cannot say anything about the outcome and what will happen. “I have not got a clue, I don’t think anyone has, but from his point of view, it is better that an English judge comes up with a verdict. It will be of more help for him.” Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 1998 Formula Chevrolet Brazil ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5th 1999 Formula Chevrolet Brazil Team MasterCard 10 3 ? ? ? ? 1st 2000 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup Cram Competition 9 3 ? ? 4 140 1st Formula Renault 2000 Italy 8 4 4 3 5 147 1st 2001 Euro Formula 3000 Draco Junior Team 8 6 6 5 6 60 1st European Supertouring Championship Team Nordauto 4 0 0 0 0 71 23rd 24 Hours of Sicily Alfa Romeo 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd 2002 Formula One Sauber Petronas 16 0 0 0 0 4 13th 2003 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Test driver 2004 Formula One Sauber Petronas 18 0 0 0 0 12 12th 2005 Formula One Sauber Petronas 19 0 0 0 0 11 13th 2006 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 18 2 3 2 7 80 3rd 2007 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 3 6 6 10 94 4th 2008 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 18 6 6 3 10 97 2nd 2009 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 10 0 0 1 1 22 11th 2010 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 19 0 0 0 5 144 6th 2011 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari 19 0 0 2 0 118 6th 2012 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari 20 0 0 0 2 122 7th 2013 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari 19 0 0 0 1 112 8th 2014 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 19 0 1 1 3 134 7th 2015 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 19 0 0 0 2 121 6th 2016 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 21 0 0 0 0 53 11th 2017 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 20 0 0 0 0 43 11th 2018 Stock Car Brasil Cimed Chevrolet Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2018–19 Formula E Venturi Formula E Team 13 0 0 0 1 36 15th 2019–20 Formula E ROKiT Venturi Racing 11 0 0 0 0 3 22nd 2020 Porsche Endurance Series ? 3 0 0 0 0 166 5th 2021 Stock Car Brasil Lubrax Podium 24 0 0 0 0 88 24th 2022 Stock Car Pro Series Lubrax Podium 22 0 0 0 0 98 24th 2023 Stock Car Pro Series Lubrax Podium 24 2 0 0 5 224 10th 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship – LMP2 Riley 1 0 0 0 1 328 3rd* † As Massa was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. * Season still in progress. Complete Formula Renault 2000 Italia results (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2000 Cram Competition IMO 1 MAG Ret VAR Ret MNZ 1 VAL 1 14 VAL 2 1 PER 3 BIN MIS VAL 1 1st 147 Complete Euro Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2001 Draco Junior Team VLL 1 PER 1 MNZ 1 DON 8 ZOL Ret IMO 1 NÜR 1 VAL 1 1st 60 Complete European Supertouring Championship results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 2001 Team Nordauto Alfa Romeo 156 MNZ 1 MNZ 2 BRN 1 BRN 2 MAG 1 MAG 2 SIL 1 SIL 2 ZOL 1 ZOL 2 HUN 1 HUN 2 A1R 1 A1R 2 NÜR 1 NÜR 2 JAR 1 14 JAR 2 6 EST 1 5 EST 2 Ret 23rd 71 Complete Formula One results[edit] (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 WDC Points 2002 Sauber Petronas Sauber C21 Petronas 02A 3.0 V10 AUS Ret MAL 6 BRA Ret SMR 8 ESP 5 AUT Ret MON Ret CAN 9 EUR 6 GBR 9 FRA Ret GER 7 HUN 7 BEL Ret ITA Ret USA JPN Ret 13th 4 2004 Sauber Petronas Sauber C23 Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 AUS Ret MAL 8 BHR 12 SMR 10 ESP 9 MON 5 EUR 9 CAN Ret USA Ret FRA 13 GBR 9 GER 13 HUN Ret BEL 4 ITA 12 CHN 8 JPN 9 BRA 8 12th 12 2005 Sauber Petronas Sauber C24 Petronas 05A 3.0 V10 AUS 10 MAL 10 BHR 7 SMR 10 ESP 11† MON 9 EUR 14 CAN 4 USA DNS FRA Ret GBR 10 GER 8 HUN 14 TUR Ret ITA 9 BEL 10 BRA 11 JPN 10 CHN 6 13th 11 2006 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari 248 F1 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 BHR 9 MAL 5 AUS Ret SMR 4 EUR 3 ESP 4 MON 9 GBR 5 CAN 5 USA 2 FRA 3 GER 2 HUN 7 TUR 1 ITA 9 CHN Ret JPN 2 BRA 1 3rd 80 2007 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS 6 MAL 5 BHR 1 ESP 1 MON 3 CAN DSQ USA 3 FRA 2 GBR 5 EUR 2 HUN 13 TUR 1 ITA Ret BEL 2 JPN 6 CHN 3 BRA 2 4th 94 2008 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2008 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS Ret MAL Ret BHR 1 ESP 2 TUR 1 MON 3 CAN 5 FRA 1 GBR 13 GER 3 HUN 17† EUR 1 BEL 1 ITA 6 SIN 13 JPN 7 CHN 2 BRA 1 2nd 97 2009 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F60 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS Ret MAL 9 CHN Ret BHR 14 ESP 6 MON 4 TUR 6 GBR 4 GER 3 HUN DNS EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU 11th 22 2010 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 BHR 2 AUS 3 MAL 7 CHN 9 ESP 6 MON 4 TUR 7 CAN 15 EUR 11 GBR 15 GER 2 HUN 4 BEL 4 ITA 3 SIN 8 JPN Ret KOR 3 BRA 15 ABU 10 6th 144 2011 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari 150º Italia Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS 7 MAL 5 CHN 6 TUR 11 ESP Ret MON Ret CAN 6 EUR 5 6th 118 Scuderia Ferrari GBR 5 GER 5 HUN 6 BEL 8 ITA 6 SIN 9 JPN 7 KOR 6 IND Ret ABU 5 BRA 5 2012 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari F2012 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS Ret MAL 15 CHN 13 BHR 9 ESP 15 MON 6 CAN 10 EUR 16 GBR 4 GER 12 HUN 9 BEL 5 ITA 4 SIN 8 JPN 2 KOR 4 IND 6 ABU 7 USA 4 BRA 3 7th 122 2013 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari F138 Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 AUS 4 MAL 5 CHN 6 BHR 15 ESP 3 MON Ret CAN 8 GBR 6 GER Ret HUN 8 BEL 7 ITA 4 SIN 6 KOR 9 JPN 10 IND 4 ABU 8 USA 12 BRA 7 8th 112 2014 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW36 Mercedes PU106A Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS Ret MAL 7 BHR 7 CHN 15 ESP 13 MON 7 CAN 12† AUT 4 GBR Ret GER Ret HUN 5 BEL 13 ITA 3 SIN 5 JPN 7 RUS 11 USA 4 BRA 3 ABU 2 7th 134 2015 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW37 Mercedes PU106B Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS 4 MAL 6 CHN 5 BHR 10 ESP 6 MON 15 CAN 6 AUT 3 GBR 4 HUN 12 BEL 6 ITA 3 SIN Ret JPN 17 RUS 4 USA Ret MEX 6 BRA DSQ ABU 8 6th 121 2016 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW38 Mercedes PU106C Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS 5 BHR 8 CHN 6 RUS 5 ESP 8 MON 10 CAN Ret EUR 10 AUT 20† GBR 11 HUN 18 GER Ret BEL 10 ITA 9 SIN 12 MAL 13 JPN 9 USA 7 MEX 9 BRA Ret ABU 9 11th 53 2017 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW40 Mercedes M08 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 t AUS 6 CHN 14 BHR 6 RUS 9 ESP 13 MON 9 CAN Ret AZE Ret AUT 9 GBR 10 HUN WD BEL 8 ITA 8 SIN 11 MAL 9 JPN 10 USA 9 MEX 11 BRA 7 ABU 10 11th 43 † Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed more than 90% of the race distance. Complete Formula E results (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points 2018–19 Venturi Formula E Team Spark SRT05e Venturi VFE05 ADR 17 MRK 18 SCL Ret MEX 8 HKG 5 SYX 10 RME Ret PAR 9 MCO 3 BER 15 BRN 8 NYC 16† NYC 15 15th 36 2019–20 ROKiT Venturi Racing Spark SRT05e Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 DIR 12 DIR 18 SCL 9 MEX Ret MRK 17 BER Ret BER NC BER 19 BER 10 BER 13 BER 16 22nd 3 † Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. Complete Stock Car Pro Series results[edit] (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Rank Points 2018 Cimed Racing Chevrolet Cruze INT 1 13 CUR 1 CUR 2 VEL 1 VEL 2 LON 1 LON 2 SCZ 1 SCZ 2 GOI 1 22 MOU 1 MOU 2 CAS 1 CAS 2 VCA 1 VCA 2 TAR 1 TAR 2 GOI 1 GOI 2 INT 1 NC† 0† 2021 Lubrax Podium Chevrolet Cruze GOI 1 25 GOI 2 17 INT 1 15 INT 2 7 VCA 1 Ret VCA 2 Ret VCA 1 16 VCA 2 15 CAS 1 16 CAS 2 13 CUR 1 15 CUR 2 23 CUR 1 Ret CUR 2 13 GOI 1 Ret GOI 2 13 GOI 1 26 GOI 2 20 VCA 1 Ret VCA 2 20 SCZ 1 17 SCZ 2 Ret INT 1 19 INT 2 16 24th 88 2022 Lubrax Podium Chevrolet Cruze INT 1 26 GOI 1 21 GOI 2 15 RIO 1 6 RIO 2 22 VCA 1 17 VCA 2 12 VEL 1 20 VEL 2 16 VEL 1 Ret VEL 2 DNS INT 1 8 INT 2 8 VCA 1 21 VCA 2 19 SCZ 1 Ret SCZ 2 17 GOI 1 24 GOI 2 Ret GOI 1 Ret GOI 2 15 INT 1 6 INT 2 16 24th 98 2023 Lubrax Podium Chevrolet Cruze GOI 1 21 GOI 2 Ret INT 1 16 INT 2 Ret TAR 1 20 TAR 2 11 CAS 1 23 CAS 2 12 INT 1 3 INT 2 2 VCA 1 12 VCA 2 11 GOI 1 12 GOI 2 21 VEL 1 17 VEL 2 Ret BUE 1 12 BUE 2 7 VCA 1 5 VCA 2 2 CAS 1 9 CAS 2 1 INT 1 14 INT 2 1 10th 224 As Massa was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant No. Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Points 2024 Riley 74 LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY 3 SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 3rd* 328* Personal life Massa and his wife, Anna Raffaela in 2021 Felipe Massa married Anna Raffaela Bassi on 30 November 2007, in São Paulo, Brazil. The couple’s first son, Felipinho (Bassi Massa), was born on 30 November 2009. Massa is a friend of Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille, who has dedicated several models of his watches to him (RM-005FM, RM-011). Nicolas Todt, son of Ferrari’s past team principal and former FIA president Jean Todt, is Massa’s manager. Though Massa supports Brazilian football team São Paulo FC, he also supports the Turkish football team Fenerbahçe that was formerly coached by Zico. On 24 August 2007, Massa said: “Zico was my childhood idol, Roberto Carlos is my best friend. I am a Fenerbahçe fan, because it is just like a Brazilian team. I love Turkey, as I won my first championship race in Turkey, it has special value for me.” Massa held a charity kart race, Desafio Internacional das Estrelas (International Challenge of the Stars) every year between 2005 and 2014. Notably, many active top level Brazilian drivers have competed in the event, such as Formula One drivers Rubens Barrichello and Nelson Piquet Jr., drivers who competed in American open wheel events such as Tony Kanaan, Mario Moraes, Felipe Giaffone, Vítor Meira, Roberto Moreno, and Gil de Ferran, and Stock Car Brasil champion Cacá Bueno. In addition, Brazilian motorcycle racer Alex Barros has competed. Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer joined the Brazilian contingent in 2007. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jeff Gordon and Jaime Alguersuari have also participated. On 18 September 2012, Massa participated on a world record event at Silverstone where 964 Ferrari cars, 36 shy of their target of 1000, assembled together on the track. This spectacle was witnessed by 25,000 fans which features Massa’s 2008 car driven by Ferrari test driver Marc Gené. Massa has a strong Roman Catholic faith. Legal actions over 2008 F1 title In March 2023, in an interview with German website F1-Insider, former Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was quoted saying that both he and then-FIA president Max Mosley were made aware of Renault’s deliberate manipulation of the Singapore Grand Prix “during the 2008 season”. He added: “We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions. That means it would never have happened for the championship standings. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.” Despite this, Ecclestone said they decided not to act in order to “protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal”. Following Ecclestone’s comments, Massa reportedly started investigating whether he could take legal action to challenge the outcome of the 2008 championship. In August, Massa and his legal team sent a Letter Before Claim to the FIA and FOM. Helmet Massa’s helmet from 2010 at Ferrari Massa’s helmet was blue with a fluorescent yellow X on the sides and a yellow triangle that covers the upper helmet with the top section coloured with a green gradient (prior to F1, this section was blue), in Ferrari early years until 2010, Massa’s helmet featured also a white ring surrounding the top. In 2008 the tips of the fluoro yellow X were more ramified. In 2011 on the yellow triangle covered the entire upper front with 2 blue lines in the sides. For his 100th race with Ferrari at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, Massa sported a chrome and gold prancing horse on the top with a further 100 horses representing the races Massa contested with Ferrari. The design also featured gold, blue and green spreading out over the helmet.