UK Supreme Court sets appeal hearing in Massa’s £64m case for 2 and 3 February 2027

The UK Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1 and the FIA’s appeal on 2 and 3 February 2027. The appeal challenges the decision that allowed Felipe Massa’s remaining claim over the 2008 championship to proceed to a full High Court trial.

Massa is not seeking to overturn the result that crowned Lewis Hamilton champion in 2008. He is seeking £64 million in damages for loss of potential earnings as a world champion after the controversial 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Massa’s lawyers argued that Ecclestone and senior FIA figures at the time knew during the 2008 season that Nelson Piquet Jr had deliberately crashed in Singapore to bring out a safety car. They said Massa suffered a botched pit stop under the safety car, leaving him out of the points. Lawyers for Ecclestone, F1 and the FIA said their clients first learned of the crash order in 2009, when Piquet Jr was fired and the Crashgate investigation followed.

Following a three-day High Court hearing in October 2025, Mr Justice Jay dismissed three of Massa’s claims but refused to strike out the unlawful-means conspiracy claim, allowing it to proceed to a full trial. The appeal seeks to block that trial.

If the Supreme Court upholds the appeal, Massa’s case will be thrown out; if it rejects it, the full High Court trial will go ahead.