Lewis Hamilton breaks silence after Felipe Massa’s legal action over 2008 F1 title

Lewis Hamilton has broken his silence over Felipe Massa’s decision to begin legal action over the result of the 2008 Formula 1 title.

In what was an intensely dramatic end to the season, Hamilton won the title by just one point.

During the last race of the season in Brazil, there was a controversial moment where Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr crashed, which helped teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.

London-based Enyo Law claimed that Massa is “the victim of a conspiracy committed by individuals at the highest level of F1 together with the FIA and Formula One Management”.

The Brazilian’s lawyers said in a letter: “Simply put, Mr Massa is the rightful 2008 Driver's Champion, and F1 and FIA deliberately ignored the misconduct that cheated him out of that title.

“Mr Massa is unable to fully quantify his losses at this stage but estimates that they are likely to exceed tens of millions of Euros.”

Ahead of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix race, Hamilton was asked about the matter.

The Mercedes driver said: “I’ve got a really bad memory. I’m really just focused on the here and now and helping the team get back to the championship.

“I’m not focused on what happened 15 years ago.”

Hamilton went on to state that he is targeting second place in the constructors’ championship.

He added: “I think P2 [in the constructors’] is a huge achievement and something that has been overlooked if I’m completely honest.

“Ultimately we want to win, but I’m really proud of the team and the steps we’ve made with the car.”

Hamilton continued: “My goal is to make sure the team keep second in the championship and try to hunt down second in the drivers’ championship. That’s my goal – that’ll be fun.”