Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has played down the significance of Felipe Massa's lawsuit, as the ex-driver seeks damages worth up to $82 million.
The case centres around the 'Crashgate' scandal that took place at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which saw Renault instruct Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash in order to give a strategic advantage to team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race.
Massa was leading the race at the time of the crash amid his title battle with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, but crossed the finish line in 13th place.
Massa would go on to lose the championship fight that year by just a single point.
The Brazilian launched his plans to initiate legal proceedings after Ecclestone revealed in an interview with a German publication that he and then FIA president Max Mosley were aware of Renault's scheme during that season, several months before the situation became public.
Massa has highlighted his desire for to see “accountability” being taken with an October 28 court date set.
However, Ecclestone stated there is no way for the race result to be altered.
“There is no way in the world anyone could change or cancel that race,” the 94-year-old told The Times.
“There is always something going on where someone would like to cancel it if they could.
“To try to persuade the president of the FIA to call a special meeting where the FIA would have to cancel the race — there were no provisions for that to happen.
“Max knew there was not enough evidence at the time to do anything.
“It only started later when young Nelson decided he wanted to say something when he found out he was not going to get a seat for the following year.
“Max was not saying we should cover this up but just that it was not good for the image of Formula 1.”
Addressing the interview he gave to F1 Insider in which he stated both he and the FIA discovered Renault's plot during the 2008 campaign, Ecclestone does not believe it will stand as viable evidence in court.
“This was an interview I gave to someone in Germany,” he said.
“And the guy at the time, his English wasn’t that good and he was taking notes, and it was picked up by someone in England.
“The lawyers for myself, the FIA and F1 do not understand how it can be heard in a court.”
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