I admit, being a new F1 fan in 2024 must be pretty confusing. While the roster remains the same, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in a permanent P1 position — along with flagging competition from longtime rivals Mercedes — have put the sport in a strange place, with pundits wondering how F1 seems to be losing public appeal despite being more ‘popular’ than ever, with more races, more viewership deals, and more money.

The latter seems to be at the epicentre of this movement; and is very much behind the most dramatic thing in the sport today — off-track theatrics. F1, being the closely-knit boys club that it is, rarely involves actual courts in its disputes. That said, the expansion of the sport, leaks within its leadership and the involvement of external parties has certainly complicated things. Here’s a look at the biggest courtroom dramas that F1 has faced across the current and last season:

Massa’s Quest For Justice: Revisiting The 2008 ‘Crashgate’ Scandal

In a move that shocked motorsport enthusiasts and legal experts alike, Felipe Massa, the Brazilian driver whose career was defined by his stint at Ferrari, launched a legal battle against the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), Formula One Management (FOM), and the sport's formidable ‘father’ figure, Bernie Ecclestone. 

Central to Massa's lawsuit is the contention over the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix—a race now infamous for the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, which Massa believes wrongfully cost him the championship. His legal challenge seeks not only a revision of the historic results, declaring him the rightful champion, but also a significant financial reparation for the losses he suffered, which are reportedly to the tune of $82 million.

Rio-based law firm Vieira Rezende released a statement which stated that if the FIA had acted properly, Massa would have won the Driver's Championship that year. The statement reads, "Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA's failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit. As Mr Ecclestone has admitted, there was 'enough information in time to investigate the matter' in 2008 and 'cancel the race in Singapore'. Mr Ecclestone further affirmed that, had the results of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix been cancelled, 'Felipe Massa would have become world champion' and that Mr Massa 'was cheated out of the title he deserved'."

What Happens in Vegas: Fan’s Discontent Turns Legal

Depending on who you ask, the Vegas GP was either hotly anticipated or coldly doubted. Apart from questions about skyrocketing attendance costs, an overemphasis on spectacle over sport and a controversial ruling against Ferrari, the race also drew the ire of fans in attendance, who sought damages from F1’s parent company Liberty Media.

Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting said they had filed a class-action lawsuit against the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix (LVGP) in Nevada state court on Friday on behalf of the people who purchased tickets for the practice run, which was cut short due to a manhole cover damaging Carlos Sainz’ SF-23. The resulting five-and-a-half hour break, in which crews had to plug up 30 drains across the circuit, drew massive flak from attendees—many of whom found the compensatory $200 merchandise voucher insulting.

"A lot of fans probably don't even want that, they want their money back,” said Steve Dimopolous to Reuters during the race weekend. "There are also peripheral issues of what about the people that came in from out of town and paid for substantial air fare and hotels."

Pricey Seats: Nyck De Vries vs. Investrand

Dutch racer Nyck De Vries had one of the most roller-coaster debuts in F1 — proving himself in a last-minute Williams step-in during the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, only to receive the boot a year later when he was discarded mid-season at AlphaTauri in favour of Daniel Ricciardo. While this was dramatic enough, it took a turn for the worse when Dutch investment firm Investrand, who had sponsored De Vries’ career, got involved.

According to the loan agreement, De Vries was required to pay a 3% annual rate on his loan to Investrand, along with 50% of his earnings from F1-related activities. If the driver failed to secure an F1 seat by ’22, his loan was to be waived — something that was brought under contention when De Vries filled in for Williams. The firm also accused De Vries of withholding his business agreements, including a contract with McLaren — all amounting to a legal demand for €500,000.

Fortunately for the rather unlucky Dutchman, De Vries’ records of WhatsApp messages and the timing of his F1 dealings worked to his favour, and he was cleared by the District Court of Amsterdam leading up to his (rather short) 2023 season.

Gambling With Sponsorships: Stake vs The Swiss Casino Commission

Betting companies have been associated with sports for centuries now — and F1 is no exception. Sauber, who operated the Alfa Romeo entry in recent years, has been rebranded as the Stake F1 Team for 2024 – taking on a new interim identity before the arrival of Audi for 2026, using the name of prime sponsor Stake, an Australian-Curaçaoan online casino.

The plan is for the team to be named Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, with the more colloquial Stake F1 Team in use for most events – however, in situations where gambling advertising is banned, the intention is to run with Kick F1 Team. This has, however, flared up tensions regarding the legal ramifications of gambling advertising in certain countries — with the Swiss government putting Stake under the scanner.

According to Switzerland’s Federal Act on Money Games (AMG), which applies to all variations of online real money games, online gambling and advertising are permitted – provided the organiser (in this case, Stake) has a Swiss license — which it does not. A report by Swiss publication SRF contains a statement from Zurich-based Patrick Krauskopf, Head of the Centre for Competition and Commercial Law: “Sponsorship would be permitted. In this case, however, the Stake and Sauber brands are so closely linked and the term Stake is so strongly imprinted in the minds of viewers that we have probably crossed the red line into unauthorised advertising.”

Stake F1 seems pretty unfazed by the proceedings — though its on-track performance may be their first major problem for the 2024 season.

Crypto Gone Wrong: Mercedes and FTX’s Collapse

Right towards the end of what proved to be a weak season for longtime frontrunners Mercedes, the team faced a hit when cryptocurrency exchange FTX went under following serious fraud accusations. F1 has a fair share of crypto sponsors, with FTX being just one out of 8 on the grid — its logo being featured on the cars’ front nose and rear wing side profile. 

However, following a massive $8 billion deficit for FTX, Mercedes soon received class action complaints from users of the platform, who criticized the team for “aiding and abetting and/or actively participating in the FTX Group’s massive, multibillion-dollar global fraud”. It wasn’t just Mercedes either — other sports personalities like Shaq, Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo and more were also named and shamed by the plaintiffs.

Image Credits: Formula1.com, Twitter(X)