British F1 star on Massa threat as Hamilton told he could lose title

Hamilton opens up on plans to remain in F1 ahead of 2023 season

Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to lose his 2008 title despite Felipe Massa’s threat of legal action, according to ex-British F1 star Tiff Needell. The former Ensign driver admitted it would be wrong to cancel events now 15 years after Hamilton secured the crown.

It comes after Massa stated he was looking into legal avenues to challenge the title after a series of remarks from Bernie Ecclestone. The ex-F1 boss suggested FIA chiefs knew Renault had fixed the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix before it became public a year later.

However, Needell warns stripping Hamilton of his crown at this stage would also be an unfair fix. He told Express Sport: “You can’t cancel it now. From that race on people ran tactics from the points that were on the board.

“If he’d appealed for the race to be null and void but I guess they didn’t know it was deliberate. As soon as they had announced it, if they had put an appeal in then, then maybe. There’s a time limit.”

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Last month, Ecclestone revealed that officials knew about the incident but decided to remain quiet to protect the integrity of the championship. However, the 92-year-old admitted he thought chiefs should have “cancelled the race in Singapore”.

He accepted Massa was “cheated out of the title he deserved” and pledged he would have “arranged things differently” if the event was run today. As Massa finished outside the points, removing the result from the calendar would have handed him the title.

The ex-Ferrari star revealed he had asked about challenging the legality of the championship at the time but lawyers at the team said it was impossible. However, the Brazilian is now looking onto the issue once again after Ecclestone’s remarks.

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Massa explained: “After 15 years, we hear that the [former] owner of the category says that he found out in 2008, together with the president of the FIA, and they did nothing [so as] to not tarnish the name of F1.

“This is very sad, to know the result of this race was supposed to be cancelled and I would have a title. In the end, I was the one who lost the most with this result.

“So, we are going after it to understand all this. There are rules, and there are many things that, depending on the country, you cannot go back after 15 years to resolve a situation.”

Tiff Needell presents the Lovecars on The Grid podcast.

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