Lewis Hamilton F1 title 'court date CONFIRMED' in London

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Singapore, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Lewis Hamilton F1 title 'court date CONFIRMED' in London

Lewis Hamilton's 2008 title win was the same year as F1's 'Crashgate' scandal

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 27 February 2025 09:13

A court date has been given surrounding a legal case into Lewis Hamilton's 2008 Formula 1 title victory, according to reports.

Hamilton is a seven-time world champion in the sport, and is largely considered to be one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, leading the historic lists for race victories (105) and pole positions (104).

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However, the circumstances around Hamilton's first F1 title in 2008 has been called into question of late, with runner-up Felipe Massa starting legal proceedings against the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) following comments from former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone reportedly said in 2023 that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew about the 'Crashgate' scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix before Nelson Piquet Jr confessed to what his Renault team had asked him to do.

The 'Crashgate' saga is one of the most controversial in F1 history

Felipe Massa is seeking compensation from the FIA

What is F1's 'Crashgate' scandal?

When he was sacked from Renault in 2009, Piquet revealed that his team had asked him to purposely crash into the wall at the 2008 Singapore GP in order to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Consequently, Hamilton finished third in that race, while Massa suffered a problem with his pitstop when pitting under the resulting safety car from Piquet's crash, and placed down in 13th.

While Renault were hit with huge fines and bans in 2009 following Piquet's comments, the race result was not null and void, as too much time had passed since the event.

Massa missed out on the title by just one point in 2008. Massa started legal proceedings following Ecclestone's comments in 2023 alleging that he knew about the incident, but covered it up in order to avoid a scandal in the sport. Massa alleges that if it was investigated at the time Ecclestone had found out, the race result would have been null and void, and the Brazilian would have won the championship.

Felipe Massa missed out on the 2008 title

Hamilton was not in any way involved in the 'Crashgate' saga, and Massa revealed last year that he holds no grudge against the Brit, but has accused the FIA and FOM of stopping him from winning a championship.

Massa reportedly is seeking compensation of at least £64 million, claiming that the sport's governing bodies allegedly manipulated the result of an F1 grand prix in Singapore.

Now, O Globo are reporting that a date has been set for the court case, with the High Court of Justice in London set to hear the case.

The above publication are reporting that the case will take place between October 28 and October 31 2025.