Good old Bernie....

[airshifter]

Well at least you can tell Trophy Wife with a straight face that the reason her beans are safe now is due to you spending time on the forum. Not that I ​would tell her that, but you could.


After some digging I found some interview stuff from Max and his comments on the Spingate incident. I had originally thought it was Bernie that did the interview. If anything really gets proven they are going to look like not much action was really taken in the long term. The piece also goes into how it was different from Spygate, and why they let that slide with the huge fine.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/q-...33327/4433327/


"Q. So therefore any penalty, should you find Renault guilty, would have to be severe to prove you are fair?MM: Depending again on all the circumstances, probably. If you look at any other sport, if somebody fixes the result then it's usually taken seriously.
Fixing is one degree worse than cheating, like if you're a cyclist and you take dope, that's cheating. If you bribe the other cyclists, or you get somebody to have a crash in the peloton so the yellow jersey guy crashes, that's more serious.
Then if it puts human life at risk, whether it's the spectators, the marshals or the drivers, then it's more serious again. The moment we talk about that, we sort of imply they are guilty, but we don't know. Until they put their defence in, we've got to assume they're innocent."

[airshifter]

Well the ball is still moving. I had seen articles on the expectation of the FIA reply to the initial "Letter Before Claim" notice to F1 and the FIA. Some articles state that Massa's lawyers initially wanted a quicker response, but agreed to add time due to the summer break and schedules.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/motor...eve%20Nielsen.

Multiple sources are stating Massa has lawyers in several countries, and I'm sure that doesn't come cheap.... unless they are sure they can recover money. Sources are claiming the demand is for 13 million. In terms of F1 drivers money, not a lot really. And when you consider that might include the attorneys fees, Massa wouldn't get a big payout if it was awarded. It almost seems he is more about exposing the system rather than seeking a huge money grab.

Only time will tell, but they don't seem to be wanting to back down on the matter easily.

[Bagwan]

Expose that system , Flip .
The two guys in the drivers's seat at the time are dead and doddering .
It's a moment for the new guys to take a step to fix it .
The longer it goes on , the more toxic it will become for the governing body , so a clean-up at a cost of a mere 13 million that could put this ugly bunny to bed could be easily worth it .
It could restore some faith in the FIA , and get the bad taste out of the mouth of a whole country .

Here's a conspiracy theory for you :
Renault must have known this would come up eventually , and that's probably why they changed the name to Alpine .
Massa probably called to warn them .

[airshifter]

I'm sure if he honestly feels the title was wrongly awarded then holding someone accountable is a big deal. I'd have to think the legal fees would eat up a lot of money if he does get any, so it doesn't really seem to be a money grab. I'm sure the people running the show now would rather not have to deal with it, but even if Felipe doesn't take things very fare it does sort of put the current powers that be on notice that they are not above legal actions if they make poor decisions.

I guess we'll start seeing what the current bodies think within a month or so.

[airshifter]

This has been silent for quite some time, but apparently now there is legal action with an amount attached.

Felipe is seeking 80 million for damages. All said and done, IF there ends up being sufficient evidence, it's really not that large of an amount to ask for.

Maybe now in forums across the globe, people can quit speculating on the Horner stuff to speculate on the Massa stuff for a while. Having seen some of the nonsense posted on other forums, some people really, really, really need the break. And those people still want the court of public opinion to decide on Horner.... as long as it's what they speculate.