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Felipe Massa’s lawyers have started legal action against Formula 1 and the FIA over the 2008 F1 title loss to Lewis Hamilton, seeking substantial damages following that year’s “Crashgate” scandal and a subsequent alleged “conspiracy.” Brazilian driver Massa, then racing for Ferrari, missed out on the 2008 title by a single point in dramatic circumstances at the final race in Brazil as Hamilton – then driving for McLaren - claimed the point he needed on the final lap in wet conditions. Yet new comments earlier this year, by former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, about the infamous ‘Crashgate’ scandal in Singapore that season has encouraged Massa to assess all his potential options regarding compensation and perhaps overturning the result. While the latter is not currently possible under FIA regulations, a formal eight-page ‘Letter Before Claim’ was sent to F1 boss Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Tuesday from London-based Enyo Law, as reported by Reuters. The firm, acting on Massa’s behalf, alleges that the 42-year-old has been “the victim of a conspiracy committed by individuals at the highest level of F1 together with the FIA and Formula One management.” It adds that Massa has lost out on tens of millions of euros in lost earnings and bonuses as a result of Crashgate and missing out on the 2008 title. Crashgate rocked the sport when the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix saw Renault’s Fernando Alonso win the race before it emerged that his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed 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 statues 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. 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.” The letter from Massa’s lawyers, sent to F1 and FIA, states: "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. "This amount does not cover the serious moral and reputational losses suffered by Mr Massa.” F1 did not provide an immediate response to Reuters, while the FIA acknowledged receipt of “correspondence” from Massa’s lawyers and added: “The matter is under review and we will not be providing comment at this stage.” The Independent has contacted Formula 1 for comment. Ecclestone, however, told Reuters he could not remember saying the key lines. "I don’t remember any of this, to be honest,” said the 92-year-old. "I don’t remember giving the interview for sure." Massa, speaking in Miami in May, called the situation an “injustice.” “You fight them to the last corner of the last race, pass the chequered flag as the champion and then everything changed,” he told Sky Sports. “For sure, a fight on the track. “Then you discover what has happened in Singapore. People, important people like Bernie [Ecclestone], like Max Mosley, like Charlie Whiting - they knew in 2008 and they didn’t do anything. “That is really a massive surprise for me. It’s really [an] injustice and I think definitely we need to study everything that happened because it’s not fair what has happened.” The new furore surrounding the 2008 title was triggered after Ecclestone told F1-Insider earlier this year: “We decided not to do anything for now. 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’s lawyers added that the Brazilian wants “recognition that, but for those unlawful acts, he would have been awarded the 2008 Championship” – adding that they will “commence legal proceedings in the English courts” if a suitable response is not received within 14 days. Despite the start of legal action, Massa is not 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 F1 2023 mid-season awards: Best driver, worst race and biggest surprise Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 F1 title still under threat as Felipe Massa bemoans ‘injustice’ Is a bright Ferrari future being hampered by the past? Flavio Briatore: The ego who landed... with a crash

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Montana Brown has opened up about the struggle to get pregnant with her first child despite being in her twenties. The former Love Island star, 27, gave birth to her and fiancé Mark O’Connor’s son Jude last month – but said she was shocked that it was difficult to conceive in the first place. Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on herHappy Mum Happy Baby podcast, Brown said she thought “something was wrong” with her when she first started trying to get pregnant but couldn’t. “I thought, ‘We’re young, this is going to be really easy’… for the first four months we’d used ovulation sticks, and then I’d do a pregnancy test and it’d be negative,” she recalled. “And I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, that is so hurtful’ and then you do that month after month. “Then I was kind of overthinking, is there something wrong with me, should I be getting checked?” Brown joked that she also sent O’Connor to the fertility clinic to check his sperm and recalled: “I said, ‘There’s something wrong with your sperm! You need to get it checked out, it’s not me!’” But in the end, both parties went to check their fertility and found that “everything was fine”. “So, Mark loves going in the sauna and also he’s an avid cycler, two things which are not good for sperm, which I did not know,” the reality star continued. “I also found out I had no oestrogen and no testosterone. It kind of left me a bit like, ‘Oh, I can be young, fit and healthy, and still really, really struggle to conceive’.” When she did eventually fall pregnant, Brown said it was a surprise and she thought her symptoms – which included tiredness, nausea and hot sweats – were because of food poisoning. “For some reason, like clockwork in the evenings, I was having hot sweats,” Brown said. “I had stabbing pains. And I was being sick every night. “I said to Mark, ‘I’ve got food poisoning’. And he was like, ‘I don’t think you do… you’re definitely pregnant’. “I said, ‘Mark, please, come on, we had sex that one time… this is not happening, there’s no way’. So I really avoided taking a pregnancy test. I genuinely was so convinced I was just ill.” However, O’Connor insisted that she take a pregnancy test and ordered her one via Deliveroo. Brown said she agreed to take the test “just to shut [him] up”. “I just remember weeing on the stick and just being like, ‘Yeah, it’s not loaded yet’. Just kind of a bit blasé. And then I just remember seeing it and I was like, ‘Oh my God’.” According to Brown, O’Connor, who was FaceTiming her as she took the test, was in disbelief even though he had been right. “He was like, ‘No, you’re joking’. I was like, ‘I’m not joking, it says pregnant!’” The couple welcomed their baby boy, named Jude Isaiah O’Connor, on 23 June and said they were “so smitten”. In the early days of her pregnancy, Brown said she experienced “excruciating pain”, which led her to think she had “a gall stone or appendicitis” rather than being pregnant. Montana and O’Connor announced their engagement in April, after he proposed to her on a beach in Bermuda. They met in 2020 and went “Instagram official” with their relationship the year after. She was a contestant in series three of the ITV reality dating show, where she was coupled up with Alex Beattie by the end of the series. However, the pair broke up shortly after leaving the villa. Read More Sorry lads, we just can’t afford any more reckless, middle-aged adventurers Cruise line apologises after passengers witness dozens of pilot whales being slaughtered Woman’s response to Tinder match asking her to go on an ice cream date sparks debate Margot Robbie has fangirl moment over Love Island stars Ekin-Su, Davide and Liberty Maya Jama reflects on ‘importance’ of her relationship with ex Stormzy Inside the famous Love Island villa near Majorca

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As American schools work to turn around math scores that plunged during the pandemic, some researchers are pushing for more attention to a set of research-based practices for teaching math