Massa's $90 million 'crashgate' lawsuit begins in a London court.

      The defendants are seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.

      Felipe Massa's long-anticipated legal action against Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA, and Formula One Management (FOM) officially commenced this week at London's Royal Courts of Justice, coincidentally on Ecclestone's 95th birthday. The 44-year-old Brazilian aims to be recognized as the rightful 2008 World Champion and is claiming tens of millions in damages for lost earnings, arguing that the governing bodies of the sport failed to take appropriate action following Nelson Piquet Jr's intentional crash during the 2008 Singapore GP.

      Massa's attorneys assert that the FIA "breached its regulations by not promptly investigating" the incident, claiming that he "would have secured the Drivers' Championship that year if the correct procedures had been adhered to." However, the defendants are advocating for the dismissal of the lawsuit.

      In its response, the FIA termed Massa's claim "as torturous as it is overly ambitious," pointing out that the Brazilian's case "painstakingly ignores a list of his own mistakes or those made by his team, Ferrari, during the Singapore GP and other races."

      Ecclestone's lawyer, David Quest KC, informed the court that the case was "a misguided effort to revisit the 2008 Championship," describing it as "a sports-debate-club exercise" that would "strip Mr (Lewis) Hamilton of his 2008 title, despite his involvement in the incident."

      Anneliese Day KC, representing FOM, further stated: "It was not the safety-car period that altered Massa's fate, but a sequence of subsequent racing mistakes by him and Ferrari. Hamilton excelled over Mr. Massa throughout the Singapore GP and the entire 2008 season."

      Massa's attorney Nick di Marco - who has also recently represented Alex Palou - contended that the opposing parties had failed to demonstrate that the case "lacks any genuine prospects of success," asserting, "Mr. Massa has a genuine chance of success in all respects."

      Judge Sir Robert Jay is currently overseeing the preliminary arguments and will determine whether the case should proceed or be dismissed, with a decision expected by Friday.