Felipe Massa refuses to give up in moan at FIA over Lewis Hamilton

Felipe Massa has called out the FIA as he branded his 2008 world championship defeat to Lewis Hamilton an “injustice”. The former Ferrari star has pledged to study the evidence and is not giving up on stripping Hamilton of his maiden title.

The Brazilian has since obtained legal representation and could battle chiefs for the result to be overturned. It comes after ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone admitted chiefs knew about Nelson Piquet Jnr’s race-fixing scandal before it emerged in 2009.

Ecclestone added that the Singapore Grand Prix should have been voided which would have handed Massa the world title. Speaking to Sky Sports F1 in Miami, Massa said: “You fight them to the last corner of the last race, pass the chequered flag as the champion and then everything changed. For sure, a fight on the track.

“Then you discover what has happened in Singapore. People, important people like Bernie, like Max Mosley, like Charlie Whiting – they knew in 2008 and they didn’t do anything.

“That is really a massive surprise for me. It’s really [an] injustice and I think definitely we need to study everything that happened because It’s not fair what has happened.” The Brazilian missed out on his only world title after Hamilton overtook by Timo Glock in the final corner of the last race in Sao Paulo.

However, Massa struggled in Singapore and finished outside the points after a pit-lane error cropped him down the order. Meanwhile, Hamilton finished third and picked up six vital championship points which eventually proved enough to top the standings.

Massa has previously claimed he tried to challenge the title at the time but was told his attempts were futile by Ferrari lawyers. In Miami, Massa confirmed he was still biding his time after being handed clear instructions from his legal representative.

He told RacingNews365: “I’m not doing this for anything. Because it’s not what I aim to, but I’m doing this for the justice. Not only for me, but for my friends, my country, my family, Ferrari and Ferrari fans, so in the end there are so many things.

“You know also what a what a championship does for a country? You can develop the country, we don’t have Brazilian drivers now racing as well, so there are so many things.

“I cannot say anything, we are studying everything for the moment. Those instructions have been given to me.”