"I have a lot of support": Felipe Massa claims backing of the F1 fraternity in legal proceedings involving Lewis Hamilton's first title

Felipe Massa claimed that he has the support of the F1 fraternity in the legal proceedings involving Lewis Hamilton's first title. The Brazilian battled the former McLaren driver for the title in 2008. The title battle came down to the last lap of the season where Lewis pulled off an overtake on Timo Glock to win the Drivers Championship.

The controversy first erupted in 2009 when it was found out that the race in Singapore in 2008 had a pre-meditated crash planned by Renault to manipulate the race results. In the race, Nelson Piquet Jr. was instructed by Flavio Briatore to crash at a specific time to help their driver Fernando Alonso gain an advantage.

The race ended up impacting the final result of the championship and after Bernie Ecclestone revealed this season that the FIA and F1 knew about in 2008, it opened a can of worms. Felipe Massa has since then initiated legal proceedings challenging Lewis Hamilton's win. The question about these proceedings was put to the drivers in the pre-race press conference but they opted not to speak about it.

In an interview with PlanetF1, Felipe Massa shared that he had the support of a lot of drivers who may not want to speak about it in public. He also talked about the support he got from the fans whenever he's out in public. He said:

“I have a lot of support, to be honest, I have a lot of support from the drivers, many drivers. Even drivers that were there, to be honest. So from the people at home, everywhere I go – in the airport, in the restaurant, in the shopping mall, in the supermarket, wherever, everywhere I go, people stop me and people push me saying that I need to fight for the justice of the sport."

Felipe Massa expands on why drivers opt to keep quiet in the Lewis Hamilton case

Felipe Massa felt that the driver opt not to speak about the 2008 controversy in public in fear of backlash. Speaking about the legal proceedings involving Lewis Hamilton's title triumph in 2008, Massa proclaimed he had massive support from many involved in the sport. He said:

“So not only in Brazil, but in other countries as well. So what I’m doing is the fight for the justice of the sport, which was not fair and it was not correct what happened. I understand that so many people, sometimes, prefer not to speak, they prefer not to comment."

He added:

"Maybe because they are afraid of something related to this world, but I have zero doubt that I don’t have any help, any support, you know? I have massive support, and I really have no worries about the support that I have from the people on the road, and also in the sport.”

There is a very high probability that the legal proceedings amount to nothing and Lewis Hamilton's title win is safe but it will be interesting to see what happens as the case gains momentum.