Formula 1 has been hauled before London’s Royal Courts of Justice this week over an almost two-decade-old scandal that could cost it millions.

Felipe Massa, the Ferrari star who lost the 2008 title by a single point to Lewis Hamilton, is getting his day in court to argue that the infamous ‘crashgate’ scandal has robbed him of potential world-champion status — and the millions that would have come with it.

Elsewhere, George Russell is doing his best to lock himself into his Mercedes seat for the long term, while Red Bull Racing is confident efforts devoted to Max Verstappen’s title campaign won’t negatively impact its 2026 performances.

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MASSA HEADS TO COURT OVER 2008 TITLE LOSS

Former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa is heading to court in the UK this week seeking damages over his missed 2008 world championship.

The Brazilian is suing governing body the FIA, Formula 1 Management and former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone after the latter told F1 Insider two years ago that he knew the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix had been fixed.

It took until the following season for the scandal to become public when Nelson Piquet Jr admitted that he had been instructed by his Renault bosses to deliberately crash out of the race to ensure teammate Fernando Alonso would win.

Massa, who had been comfortably leading the race from pole, finished out of the points after a pit stop drama in the ensuring post-safety car chaos in pit lane.

Title rival Lewis Hamilton scored six points for third. He would clinch the championship three rounds later by a single point in one of the sport’s all-time classic finishes.

The scandal resurfaced to haunt the sport in 2021, when Ecclestone told F1 Insider that both he and then FIA president Max Mosley had known about crashgate before the end of 2008 but opted against acting to protect the sport’s reputation.

Ecclestone later claimed his interview to the German-language publication had been mistranslated.

While all championship results are considered final by the FIA once the trophies have been handed out at the end of each season, Massa is suing for approximately £64 million ($128.5 million) in damages over lost income that would have been derived from world-championship status.

Part of that, court documents reveal, was a €2 million ($3.5 million) championship bonus he would have received from Ferrari had he prevailed over Hamilton. The balance of the claim is made up of lost salary, sponsorship and commercial earnings.

Preliminary hearings into the matter begun in London’s High Court on Tuesday, with Sir Robert Jay set to decide as early as Friday whether the case will continue to a full trial.

Crashgate is the biggest cheating scandal in Formula 1 history. FIA inquiries subsequently found Renault bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds responsible and banned the former for life and the latter for five years, though French courts later overturned both penalties.

Briatore has since returned to the team, now known as Alpine, as de facto team boss, while Pat Symonds has since worked for the Marussia and Williams teams and for Formula 1 before taking up the role of executive engineering consultant for the Cadillac team.

Alonso was clearly of having had any responsibility over the incident. Piquet Jr left Formula 1 for a career in NASCAR and later in Formula 1, winning the 2014–15 title in the latter category.

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RUSSELL REVEALS VERSTAPPEN-PROOF MERCEDES CONTRACT

George Russell has revealed securities in his new Mercedes contract that will prevent him from being replaced by Max Verstappen in 2027.

Russell’s negotiations with the German marque were drawn out this year as team boss Toto Wolff sounded out Verstappen’s availability to switch to Brackley.

Wolff is a long-known admirer of the Dutchman, who has escape clauses in his contract that could have been activated around the mid-season break had he been outside the top three in the title standings.

It was only after Verstappen confirmed he was locked into Red Bull Racing that conversations with Russell continued, though they concluded with Mercedes announcing only that he would race with the team in 2026.

It left the door open to speculation that Mercedes was angling for new negotiations with Verstappen next season, when the four-time champion reportedly has even more favourable exit clauses on his side.

Russell, however, has revealed to the UK Telegraph that his contract is a one-plus-one deal that keeps his destiny in his own control.

“It is something I haven’t actually said publicly, but the deal is, if I’m performing [next year], we have a specific clause that if I reach [a target], we will automatically renew for 2027,” he said. “So my seat for 2027 is in my hands.

“So I’m not being strung along here. We’re not going to be in the same position as we were six months ago. If I perform, and I don’t want to go into details, but if I perform, then 100 per cent I’ll be staying.”

While strong form would protect Russell from being replaced by Verstappen, it’s unclear whether teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli is similarly protected.

Russell had spoken about the discomfort of having to wait for Wolff — who is also his de facto manager given his status as a Mercedes academy product — before confirming his future.

But the Briton revealed the long wait ended up working in his favour.

“I actually wanted to sign the deal back in October 2024 but the deal I got today is substantially better than what I would have got had I signed it then.

“Sometimes I think you just have to trust in your ability, and I feel I’m only getting stronger.”

Russell continues to fume post race | 03:02

RED BULL REJECTS McLAREN CRITICISM

Red Bull Racing has denied that its continued development of its 2025 car will undermine its competitiveness next year under new regulations.

Most teams are now fully devoted to developing next year’s car, with upgrades having largely dried up in the final quarter of this season.

Red Bull Racing, however, is a notable exception, the team having brought performance upgrades to every race but one since the mid-season break, helping Max Verstappen to roar back into championship contention.

McLaren, by comparison, brought its last significant performance upgrade to the car to July’s British Grand Prix.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has hypothesised that his team’s shrinking advantage was down to the different approaches to development.

But while Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies conceded in Singapore that ongoing wok on this year’s car was taking some attention away from 2026, he said the team needed to confirm its development tools were working after 12 months of inconsistent performances lest it make the same mistakes under the new rules.

However, Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has laughed off the idea that Red Bull Racing will start next year on the back foot.

“It was the same story in 2021,” he said, per Autosport. “Toto was really worried that we wouldn’t be competitive in 2022.”

Red Bull Racing threw the kitchen sink at getting Verstappen over the line in his 2021 title battle with Lewis Hamilton but still emerged as the team to beat in the first year of new regulations in 2022. The team then dominated the 2023 season, winning every race but one.

“It’s part of our philosophy that we, whenever the rules change, are working as long as we can to stay competitive,” Marko continued. “That was the same for the last three changes when new regulations came.

“It needs an exact plan and very disciplined people, which we have. So we don’t think there is a handicap for 2026.”