Felipe Massa follows orders in bid to strip Lewis Hamilton of title

Brazilian ex-F1 star Felipe Massa is reportedly ‘following lawyer’s orders’ by keeping silent and refraining from making public statements after launching his bid to strip Lewis Hamilton of his 2008 world title. The 41-year-old finished second and a single point behind Hamilton in the 2008 Drivers’ Championship – but that could now be overturned.

Comments made by F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone could mean the result of the world championship being overturned 15 years after Hamilton won his maiden world title. The incident being challenged was during the Singapore Grand Prix when Massa dropped vital points after a pit stop error resulted in the Brazilian finishing 13th while Hamilton took third.

However, the result could become invalid after Massa has launched legal proceedings about the outcome. GP Blog claim that Massa is now ‘following lawyers’ orders’ by staying silent on the matter while a legal challenge about the 2008 race outcome is made.

This comes amid allegations that former Renault driver Nelson Piquet was told to deliberately crash his car to spark a safety car and help team-mate Fernando Alonso to take victory in an act of race fixing. Ecclestone recently claimed FIA bosses knew about the incident but kept it a secret to maintain the sport’s integrity.

READ MORE: Felipe Massa comments on Lewis Hamilton’s F1 future amid legal bid to strip him of title

The race fixing only came to the public’s attention a year after the incident and Renault faced a range of sanctions. However, following Ecclestone’s comments that the FIA were aware earlier than that, Massa has assembled a team of lawyers to look into the incident.

The legal challenge could mean that the race results are cancelled which would have a huge impact on the 2008 Drivers’ Championship standings. Massa would instead be crowned world champion for the only time in his career after the Brazilian claimed that he was the one who “lost the most” for the race-fixing incident.