LONDON (Reuters) -Felipe Massa's lawsuit against Formula One, its former boss Bernie Ecclestone and the governing FIA over the former Ferrari driver's claim he should have won the 2008 world championship can continue in part, London's High Court ruled on Thursday.
Massa was suing for a declaration that he ought to have won the 2008 drivers' title, which he lost to Lewis Hamilton by a single point. He was also seeking damages of around 64 million pounds ($83.63 million).
His case turns on the "crashgate" scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which Massa was leading from pole position when fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr crashed to try and help his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso, who won the race.
Piquet in 2009 revealed he had been ordered to crash by team bosses, who were subsequently banned. Massa's lawyers say Ecclestone knew the crash was deliberate, and that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley failed to investigate it.
Judge Robert Jay ruled that Massa's claims for inducement of breach of contract could continue, saying in a summary of his ruling that Massa arguably did not know he could sue until a 2023 interview with Ecclestone was published.
But the judge rejected his case that the FIA breached its duty to him to investigate and dismissed his claim for a declaration, saying the court could not "rewrite the outcome of the 2008 Drivers' World Championship".
The FIA said in a statement the ruling meant Massa's claim continued "on significantly narrowed grounds" and subject to any applications for permission to appeal. F1 declined to comment and Ecclestone could not immediately be contacted.
Massa said in a statement that the ruling marked "a great day for me, for justice, and for everyone who loves Formula 1". He added that Piquet's crash "stole the World Championship from me".
'CRASHGATE' SAGA RUMBLES ON
Massa had argued the results of the Singapore Grand Prix – in which Hamilton finished third, scoring six points – should have been annulled with the result that he would have won the title.
Lawyers for F1, Ecclestone and the FIA, however, said the case was brought too late and argued Massa and Ferrari's errors in Singapore were the reason he lost that race and the championship.
Massa filed the case last year, relying on comments made by Ecclestone in an interview with F1 Insider when he said he and Mosley knew Piquet crashed deliberately and did nothing to "protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal".
Lawyers representing Ecclestone, who turned 95 on the first day of last month's hearing, told the court he "does not remember giving this interview".
Jay said in his ruling that Massa had a reasonable prospect of proving that he could bring a lawsuit for inducement of breach of contract and conspiracy until that interview.
But the judge added: "If Mr Massa's more realistic case is that he has lost a chance of a more favourable outcome ... that should be reflected by an award of damages alone."
($1 = 0.7653 pounds)
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; additional reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by Sarah Young and Ed Osmond)
