Felipe Massa’s former race engineer says he accepted their failure to win the 2008 world championship, which the driver is trying to claim through the courts.
A legal team representing Massa yesterday announced a lawsuit against the FIA, FOM and Bernie Ecclestone over the governing body’s handing of that year’s Singapore Grand Prix. He is seeking confirmation he should have been declared that year’s champion.
Massa announced last year he was in discussion with the parties over their handling of the notorious ‘Crashgate’ episode following comments made by Ecclestone. The race was won by Fernando Alonso after his team mate Nelson Piquet Jnr deliberately crashed.
Rob Smedley, who was Massa’s race engineer during his time at Ferrari, said he had come to terms with their defeat to Lewis Hamilton in the championship. “I think the racing gods have decided on something else,” he told Formula For Success before Massa’s lawsuit was announced.
However Smedley said he had no objection to Massa’s efforts to change the outcome of the 2008 championship.
“He’s one of my best mates and if he wants to pursue this whole thing, then everybody should be free to do what they want to do.
“My opinion of it is I’m somebody who never looks back. I don’t care about what happened yesterday I’m interested in what’s happening today, tomorrow, and how I can affect that.
“Felipe has been pretty clear that why he wants to do this, he wants to do it for justice as he says and he has the right to be able to pursue that. Good on him if that’s what he wants to do.
“My view on it is it would have been great to have won the 2008 world championship in 2008. We didn’t, Lewis won it, and the guy with the most points at the end of the season is the guy who deserves to win it, however those points are accrued, I think. That’s racing.”
Hamilton beat Massa to the title by a single point. Massa believes the FIA should have cancelled the result of the Singapore race because of Renault’s cheating, which would make him champion.
Smedley, who was in the Jeddah F1 paddock last weekend, is phlegmatic about their defeat. “You luck into some points that you shouldn’t have had and you kind of get points nicked off you that you should have had as well,” he said, “and I think that’s the whole point, it’s why it’s a 24-race, world championship. Because over the course of the season, it’ll all even…
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