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Formula 1 and the FIA have until the close of play on Friday to respond to allegations from Felipe Massa’s lawyers of a “conspiracy” regarding the 2008 F1 title – with the Brazilian’s legal team set to take matters to the UK High Court, The Independent has learned. Massa is seeking substantial damages following the 2008 ‘Crashgate’ scandal and the subsequent impact it had on that year’s championship, won by Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the final race as then-Ferrari driver Massa missed out by a single point. New comments earlier this year, by former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, about the scandal in Singapore has encouraged Massa to take legal action, with his lawyers sending an eight-page ‘Letter Before Claim’ to F1 and the FIA in August, alleging their client was the “victim of a conspiracy”. The letter set a request for reply of 14 days but, after responses from F1 and the FIA indicated that two weeks did not present enough time for a suitable reply, Massa’s legal team have set a new deadline of 4pm on Friday 8 September for an adequate response to the matter at hand. Should no response be received, his lawyers “anticipate being instructed to file claims in the UK High Court.” In addition, in quotes obtained by The Independent, Massa’s lawyer Bernardo Viana stated “the sport has had years to rectify the sham that Felipe, Brazil and Italy have endured… enough is enough, there is zero patience left.” He adds: “Felipe won the ninth championship for Brazil and the 16th for Ferrari. We will do everything we can to bring the trophy home to Brazil and Italy.” Formula 1 refused to comment when approached by The Independent. The FIA have been contacted for comment. Ecclestone revealed in March that both he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew of the ‘Crashgate’ scandal in 2008 but refused to publicise the chain of events to avoid the sport a “huge scandal”. Ecclestone, 92, has since said he could not remember saying the key lines, telling Reuters: “I don’t remember any of this, to be honest. I don’t remember giving the interview for sure.” The new letter, addressed to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, states: “Liberty Media the owner of F1, has made public disclosures acknowledging the potential material adverse impact on its own shareholders of a scandal that undermines the credibility of the sport. “Mr. Ecclestone’s comments from earlier this year revealed precisely such a scandal, which underscores the need for Liberty Media and F1 to act promptly and diligently in responding to the serious issues that Mr. Massa has raised.” It added that “if acting reasonably, an investigation would have been initiated when this became public some five months ago.” The original letter in August says that Massa has lost out on tens of millions of euros in lost earnings and bonuses as a result of missing out on the 2008 title. WHAT WAS CRASHGATE? Crashgate rocked the sport when the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix saw Renault’s Fernando Alonso win the race before it emerged that his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr had deliberately crashed on the instructions of his team to bring out a safety car that played into Alonso’s hands. That safety car prompted a Massa pit stop that Ferrari mishandled, with Massa eventually finishing the race 13th while Hamilton came home third – a difference of six points, a swing which ultimately impacted the title result. While Renault and team boss Flavio Briatore were punished in 2009, the result of the race stood despite Massa’s protestations, with the FIA’s statutes making clear that overturning the classification from each season is impossible once the FIA Awards Ceremony for that year is complete, a rule set in the FIA International Sporting Code. The new furore surrounding the 2008 title was triggered after Ecclestone told F1-Insider earlier this year: “We wanted to protect the sport and save it from a huge scandal. That’s why I used angelic tongues to persuade my former driver Nelson Piquet to keep calm for the time being. “Back then, there was a rule that a world championship classification after the FIA ​​awards ceremony at the end of the year was untouchable. So Hamilton was presented with the trophy and everything was fine. “We had enough information in time to investigate the matter. According to the statutes, we should have cancelled the race in Singapore under these conditions. “That means it would never have happened for the championship standings. And then Felipe Massa would have become world champion and not Lewis Hamilton.” Massa told Italian outlet TG1 this week that he “expects help from Ferrari” in his case, though has not yet received support from the Italian team. Despite the threat of legal action, Massa does not seem to be able to officially overturn the result – with the FIA’s own International Sporting Code stating protests and reviews expire 14 days after a competition and four days prior to that year’s prize-giving ceremony. He also cannot use the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which has no jurisdiction over the FIA on issues like this, with the independent International Court of Appeal the highest authority in the sport. CAS may only be involved in F1 matters relating to the FIA’s Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee. Massa’s best-finish in F1 turned out to be that 2008 season as he retired in 2017 while Hamilton has gone on to win six more titles with Mercedes, holding the joint-record of seven F1 World Championships with Michael Schumacher. Read More Lewis Hamilton gives blunt response to Felipe Massa’s legal action over 2008 F1 title Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 F1 title still under threat as Felipe Massa bemoans ‘injustice’ Lando Norris could leave McLaren at end of the season, claims Nico Rosberg Toto Wolff slams ‘moaning’ across F1 grid after Lewis Hamilton apology FIA announce results of 2022 F1 cost cap process

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Kieran Trippier could have been trading the Champions League for the Championship. When his Newcastle career had the falsest of false starts, his debut a dispiriting defeat to Cambridge, the temptation was to wonder quite what he had swapped Atletico Madrid for. Sixteen months later, the answer is becoming clearer: with one more win, Trippier will be back in the Champions League. For Dan Burn, Newcastle’s takeover and the concurrent injections of ambitions and funds initially brought a different sense. By his own admission, it seemed his chance of playing for Newcastle, the club he supported in his boyhood in Blyth, was over. Now an unconventional journey from non-league to Champions League will be completed with one more victory. Burn represents the feelgood story in Newcastle’s rise, the ungainly, endearing local who, at 31, scored a first league goal for United to enable them to imagine dates with Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Trippier has proved still more of a catalyst. Two swings of a set-piece specialist’s right book brought two goals – one headed in by an opponent, one a teammate – though only one qualified as an assist. But, even as Callum Wilson added to his rich vein of form with a goal and an assist in an emphatic end, full-backs powered Newcastle forward. Money has helped but when Trippier agreed to be the first signing of the new regime, he brought credibility, offering others reasons to join. Bruno Guimaraes, who followed him to St James’ Park in January 2022, illustrated his impact again with the injury-time fourth against Brighton; without Trippier, would he have signed? A trailblazer has been a leader in other respects: the armband resides with Trippier and he is on course to become the first player since Alan Shearer two decades ago to captain Newcastle in the Champions League. Shortlisted for the Premier League player of the year award earlier in the day, he helped restore Newcastle to winning ways. After a solitary point from their previous two games, albeit from fine performances, Newcastle have momentum again. Monday’s game against a Leicester side seemingly in freefall could end their exile from Europe. They have the insurance policy of a final-day trip to Chelsea. They would not need either result if Liverpool were to lose on Saturday; the chances, though, are that Newcastle will do it in front of their own public. Given their home form – this was a fifth win in six on their own turf – it might feel fitting. Brighton had seemed to provide the greatest obstacle in the final fortnight of a season of overachievement but the conquerors of Arsenal could not produce a repeat performance in the North East. Newcastle prevailed after the almost statutory ferocious start at St James’ Park, the latest demonstration of this side’s running power, but because of two late goals and the platform laid by the class of Trippier’s dead-ball delivery. It is a way of adding another dimension as a corner and a free kick sufficed instead. He received inadvertent assistance from Deniz Undav; the cliché of a game of two halves had a certain truth in his case. In a disastrous first, Brighton’s German striker scored an own goal and conceded the free kick for Newcastle’s second. In a more auspicious second, he added to his strike against Arsenal by scoring against another of the top three, beating Nick Pope after racing on to Billy Gilmour’s pass. It means Newcastle only have a solitary clean sheet in their last 16 league games. They built from the back in the first half of the season. Defenders had to show a solidity in a nervy second half but proved the best form of attack before the break. When Trippier whipped in a corner, Undav only succeeded in glancing his header beyond Steele. When Trippier curled in a free kick, Burn, all 6ft 7in of him, rose highest to plant in a header; it was one way of repaying Brighton for allowing him to get his dream move last January. Brighton had performed a demolition job on Arsenal four days earlier; this, however, was a weaker Albion with Alexis Mac Allister, Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso benched. Roberto de Zerbi sent for the cavalry when he brought them on in a triple substitution. And then, when they threatened to procure a point, the dam burst. Steele had made stunning saves from Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak. Wilson had missed a sitter. But then his golden run continued. Wilson’s seventh goal in five games was slotted past Steele after Almiron carried the ball from deep in his half and released him; that, in turn, stemmed from Trippier winning possession by his own corner flag. Wilson then had the selflessness to tee up Guimaraes for a tap-in. His alliance with Eddie Howe began nine years ago, when Bournemouth signed the striker from League One Coventry. And now a very different league beckons for both. Read More Eddie Howe: Football must learn from my confrontation with fan Eddie Howe responds after angry fan enters Newcastle technical area during Leeds draw

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