Lewis Hamilton gets rare update on legal case that could strip him of F1 title

Felipe Massa has offered a rare update about his lawsuit against F1, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone, citing the mental and financial toll that it is having on his life.

The Brazilian ended his career without a World Championship to his name, having come closest in 2008 when he finished a single point behind Lewis Hamilton in his sophomore year in the sport.

Massa would have won the title had he converted the lead of the Singapore Grand Prix into victory, but that triumph instead went to Fernando Alonso, who benefitted from a deliberate crash from team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr.

This scandal - dubbed 'Crashgate' - was only made public the following year, but Massa commenced legal action last year after Ecclestone revealed in an interview that he had known about Renault's wrongdoing at the time, but opted not to punish them until 2009 to avoid bringing the sport into disrepute.

Offering an update on his legal battle, Massa told RacingNews365: "I hope the correct thing happens, for justice, for something that was not part of the sport that punished me big time. This is what we are fighting for, which I believe is correct, especially after 16 years and on hearing things which you never thought it was really like that.

"After that, I decided to put a big team together, professional people, divided by many different countries. They really believe it was not fair what happened, for the sport, and I definitely paid.

"When we heard Bernie's comment last year, after that we started to put things together, and we started to fight, to analyse things In the professional, legal way because it was not part of the sport."

Massa also opened up on the toll the lawsuit is having on his personal life. "I never thought I was going to be part of such a thing in my life," he continued. "It's not easy. It's also very expensive, a lot of money, so I really hope things finish soon. But we've been waiting so long now for justice, we have to hope the truth comes out and there will be justice."

If Massa's lawsuit is successful then he will receive damages compensating for the loss of earnings that 16 years without the world champion label has caused him, as well as the 2008 Drivers' Championship crown, which currently belongs to Hamilton.