Lewis Hamilton has been told to give up his first World Drivers’ Championship, which he claimed in 2008.
The call comes amid Felipe Massa’s legal pursuit to become the 2008 World Champion.
Massa is calling for the results from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to cancelled, following the ‘Crashgate’ saga.
Back at the Marina Bay Circuit in 2008, Renault instructed Nelson Piquet Jr to crash, to allow team-mate Fernando Alonso to benefit from a Safety Car.
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Piquet followed the team’s instructions and crashed, something which helped Alonso move into the race lead.
The two-time World Champion went onto win the race.
It wasn’t announced to the world until a year later that Renault had manipulated the race, something which led to calls from Massa for the results to be cancelled.
If this were to happen, the Brazilian would become 2008 World Champion, rather than Hamilton.
Despite Massa’s efforts to get the results changed in 2009, nothing came from it; however, recent comments from former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has given the ex-Ferrari driver a second chance to appeal the results.
Ecclestone was quoted as saying recently that himself and ex-FIA president Max Mosley knew about Renault’s manipulation when it happened but chose to say nothing to protect the sport.
Massa has put together a team of lawyers to fight his case against the FIA and F1, although one of his lawyers, Bernardo Viana, has called for Hamilton to vacate his 2008 title to support Massa.
Viana believes that as Hamilton is an “honorary Brazilian citizen”, he should show his support for Massa’s case despite what it’d mean for himself.
“He is an important ambassador for the sport and has always defended sporting integrity. He is an honorary Brazilian citizen and very well-liked by Brazilians, so I hope he will support us,” Viana told Reuters.
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“We have absolutely nothing against Hamilton.”
Massa’s lawyers have given the FIA and F1 until mid-October to respond to the legal case, after they “asked for more time”.
“The ball is in their court, we’ve been waiting for their response,” Viana said.
“They asked for more time, until mid-October, and in good faith we have agreed to that.”