Massa to leave Williams at end of season

2018 F1 season

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Felipe Massa will not return to Williams for the 2018 F1 season. The team announced on Saturday Massa will stand down and its driver line-up for next season will be revealed “in due course”.

The 36-year-old originally announced his retirement during last season. However he was recalled to the team after Valtteri Bottas gained a place at Mercedes following Nico Rosberg’s unexpected retirement.

“As everyone knows, after announcing my retirement from Formula One last year, I agreed to return this season to help Williams when the call came,” said Massa.

“I have now enjoyed four great years with the team, but my career in Formula One will finally come to an end this season. Once more, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this time: my wife and my father, my whole family, my manager Nicolas [Todt] and all my friends, colleagues and sponsors.”

“I would also like to add a huge thank you to all of the fans who have been incredibly supportive and passionate over the years. I take so many great memories with me as I prepare for my final two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and although they will be emotional, I am looking forward to ending on a high note and preparing for a new chapter in my career.”

Deputy team principal Claire Williams said they had been “especially grateful that he agreed to postpone his retirement from Formula One for a year, after Valtteri joined Mercedes, which demonstrated the depth of the relationship we built during our time together.”

“We appreciate that it wasn’t an easy decision for him to return, after having such an emotional send-off at the end of last year. On behalf of Sir Frank, and all the team, we give our very best wishes to Felipe for the future.”

Massa’s departure leaves a vacancy alongside Lance Stroll for next season. The team has evaluated test driver Paul di Resta, who substituted for Massa at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and Robert Kubica as potential options.

Massa addressed his fans directly in a video posted on Twitter:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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119 comments on “Massa to leave Williams at end of season”

  1. Obrigado Felipe

    1. and dont comeback

      1. Took the words right outta my mouth lol

        1. Felipe has had a fantastic career and I wish him the best. He surprised everyone by coming back from that horrendous accident with Barrichelo’s rear suspension spring nearly blinding him and he noticeably wasn’t the same afterwards. I salute him and wish him all the best and it’s a shame you cannot bring yourselves to do anything better than snigger at his retirement and make cheap comments. He really deserves better.

      2. You never know :P

  2. best luck for future endeavours.

  3. Michael Brown (@)
    4th November 2017, 12:46

    Glad that this was announced before the Brazilian Grand Prix so Massa can get the send-off he deserves.

    The BBC article I read on this speculates that Kubica, Wehrlein, and Di Resta are potential replacements.
    http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11112552/felipe-massa-confirms-f1-retirement

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      4th November 2017, 12:47

      That’s not BBC darn it

      1. It’s also not news. :-)

    2. Unless Martini change their ways, so that Williams just have to have a driver over 23, rather than 25, Wehrlein is out of the running. That could happen though, as 23 is easily old enough, as I think in countries that allow alcohol, the oldest drinking age is 21 in country’s like USA etc. Most are 18-19.

      1. @hugh11 I believe there are countries that have a drinking age of 23 (IIRC, Turkey is one)

        1. …or even 18 (Sweden)

      2. My understanding is that there is an age limit to advertising alcohol with people as models or spokesmen in certain countries.

      3. It’s not just the drinking age, it’s also the advertising age. For example (if I remember correctly), in the UK, alcohol advertisements must use people who are (and look) 25 or older

        1. correct @strontium, just a pity this has to be repeated every time we comment on the future Williams line up.

        2. Hmm true. I didn’t think of that.

      4. @hugh11 Yes, Martini would prefer at least one of the drivers to be at least 25, but it isn’t a must, which is something that has been stated by Paddy Lowe, so, therefore, Wehrlein isn’t out of the question for Williams after all, same with Kvyat. I hope Wehrlein gets the remaining seat for next season.

        1. Gavin Campbell
          5th November 2017, 16:31

          Well the statement that Massa is standing down indicates he may still be with the team. He can do the promotional work that’s required by Martini as an “ambassador”.

          This is one way to get around the problem, also the 25 year old is a voluntary thing that the alcohol companies have all agreed to. This is to try and stop the regulators coming in and forcing restrictions that they can’t control a la Tobacco.

      5. 2018 is the last year of the Martini deal. If it’s unlikely to be renewed then maybe Williams are not so concerned about the age limit thing.

        1. Although renewing it could possibly depend on whether or not they have somebody old enough

  4. … so when’s he’s coming back then ??

    1. Let’s hope: never! Hasta la vista.

      1. My respects, Felipe.
        Another decent man is gone from the grid.
        but Williams is making a huge mistake, imho.
        Kubica, di Resta, Kvyat, or Wehrlein, they all
        lack one basic asset. Williams should have kept
        Felipe. The asset I refer to is consistency.
        They only had to ask him, and Felipe would
        have stayed. He said as much.
        And they would have ended up after 2018
        with more points to their credit.
        I hope to see him compete in 2018 with the
        succes he so richly deserves.

        1. You know who else was consistent this season? Palmer…

          1. Paul Ortenburg
            5th November 2017, 6:29

            Consistently slow….

  5. Does the restrictions form the sponsorship persist (driver must look older)? If so Wehrlein does not make it, and DiResta barely.

    1. @mustavo gaia Yes, Martini would prefer at least one of the drivers to be at least 25, but it isn’t a must, which is something that has been stated by Paddy Lowe, so, therefore, Wehrlein isn’t out of the question for Williams after all, same with Kvyat. I hope Wehrlein gets the remaining seat for next season.

    2. Di Resta is 31

      1. Di resta is a joke that needs to stay where he is.

        1. Not sure he is more of a joke than let’s say Palmer or Ericsson.

          1. @paeschli yeah but being faster than PAL or ERI doesn’t mean much, when you could go for someone with talent like WEH

  6. Classy Williams leaving it up to him to announce.

    1. Williams did announce it on social media at the same time as Massa

      Williams Twitter Link

  7. I found it a huge shame that he never won another race after that championship decider in 2008. I had hoped that at some point the Williams would get a win against the odds but sadly that never happened

    1. I was a more conformed with him leaving last season but this season he is really doing a lot better and he had so many misfortunes. He had a chance of winning in Baku making so many overtakes in a way that remembered his prime years. Unfortunately it’s the way things works.

    2. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      4th November 2017, 17:23

      I can’t decide whether it was his accident or his time alongside Alonso (being turned into a number 2) that changed him but it was certainly a career of 2 halves. Best of look Felipe. Hope to see him involved in F1 in some capacity in the future.

      Always sad when household names that have been in the sport for a generation call it a day.

    3. @strontium If they’d given him the working car at Baku this year instead of Stroll it just might have happened.

      1. @keithcollantine yes, it makes it even more sad to think about

    4. @strontium

      He was never the same after his accident… Although he wanted to remain in F1 afterwards, he seemed to race almost like he was avoiding the next serious accident (and made himself a risk in the process)…

    5. ferrari team orders. 2010. Germany. alonso.

  8. Well, we really know that it wasn’t his choice, but all the best to Felipe (most likely in Formula E)

    1. Can’t wait to see him race there! Massa has given all he has to F1 world. It’s gonna be interesting to see him as a fresh face in another series.

  9. Unsurprising.

  10. Well I’ve read that it is unlikly that williams would get Wehrlein. He hasn’t exactly been that impressive. Pace wise, he’s hardly been better tthan Ericsson this season. And I know he has got points last year and this year, But if Ericsson had been on the same strategy in Spain this year, He will have managed 1 or 2. He also will have managed 10th in Baku if the team did what they said they would. So in the end, I don’t think Wehrlein is good enough to replace Massa, at least not yet. Kubica has been ot of F1 far too long IMO to be a good choise. I think Di Resta wil be better, but still hardly has any experience in the hybrdid era. There was an article about Williams considering Kvyat. If it is true, then the age restriction clearly doesn’s maatter as much as I thought it did. Not Massa has said he’s going, I actully think Kvyat will be the best choice. He’s been bad in the past couple of years yes. But he was very reasonable in 2015 and had a decent first season too. He’s been kicked around so much in the past couple of years and I partly think that is the reason why he’s dropped his form. With a fresh start at a new team that probably will be more compettetive that his previous one, I think he has a strong chance of turning things around. He’s still young and has shown to be good in 2015. I don’t think he has lost it totally.

    He’s not the best, but I think he’s a better option than bringing in drivers that haven’t been in the sport for ages. And I do believe that he’s a fair bit better than Wehrlein although he hasn’t show that this year. But the fact he beat Ricciardo in 2015 was not only luck. He had several really good results and strong drives that year too. I can see him repeating a year like that with Williams. I think it was just the way Red Bull treated him that made him fall appart. Maybe being outside of Red Bull will totally change him as a driver.

    1. How much money would Kvyat bring?

      1. Sponsorshipwise probably less than Massa but probably more than the other three. Wehrlein would come with a price cut on the engines though.

        1. Is Di Resta still associated with Mercedes also? @paeschli

          1. Kubica is more than they need.
            They need somebody who understand car development issues.
            Kvyat is a joke, PDR is an average paid driver. Werhleins only asset is his german orgin.
            Kubica will bring $ and lot of marketing related bonuses. He is fast again.

  11. Relieved that they had the decency to let him in on their decision before his home race.
    Disappointed that this has to be after a season where he never put a foot wrong but still might be outscored by his team mate who has been a waste of space most of the time.
    Worried that they might go for di Resta. Even if Massa got to announce his retirement separately, replacing him with di Resta still counts as an insult.

    1. João Fernando
      4th November 2017, 14:29

      The whole thing Williams did with him was so disrespectful, people who don’t like him just don’t care, but the whole thing was disrespectful. Actually, I am pretty sure whoever they pick is not an improvement on Massa, Massa can score points every race when he doesn’t have any problem, as he did. Felipe scored points every race he finished and didn’t have a pucnture (even tho Russia when he got 9th he did have a puncture, he was 6th) besides China. He almost won a race with that terrible Williams, overtaking like 5 cars on that race to be sitting 3rd before the bumper problem. Felipe is 15-2 on qualy against Stroll with an AVERAGE of 0.7s, biggest of F1 grid now. IMO Felipe was having his best season since his accident pretty much, when it comes to performance, of course, because points he is having one of his worst seasons due to his luck. He looked to be enjoying these cars more, and specially the fact that he didn’t have to take care of the tyres, like before, wich was a big factor on his performances. I am just sad, I really am.

      1. I too salute Felipe for his time in F1 but I have to ask, how was Williams disrespectful?

    2. Massa has seemingly performed well this year but his career is on a downward trajectory. He can retire with his head held high, and it frees up a space on the grid. He’s done better than I expected this year, I thought his head would be out of the game, although having the worst driver on the grid as your teammate does lighten the pressure.

      As you say, Di Resta would be at best a sideways move from Williams, the only advantage he has over Massa is being a few years younger.

  12. So is he gonna do the same crying thing in Brazil again

    1. Then he has to crash out in the beginning of the race. Gives him time to walk the pit lane three times up and own and get his media moment for the last time. But if I was a mechanic there I would think: been there, seen that, got other things to do.

  13. I think Daniil Kvyat is the best choice for Williams …

    1. This is F1 racing, not a demolition derby.

  14. João Fernando
    4th November 2017, 14:12

    I think it’s just sad that a title contender, mutiple race winner, multiple pole sitter, many podiums more than 1000 points in his career is having to go because of the terrible pay driver Stroll, who is always 1s off the pace compared to him. Felipe is 15-2 against Stroll on qualy, with an AVERAGE of 0.7s, the biggest of the F1 grid by far, Felipe finished every race he didn’t have a problem or big damage in front of Stroll, so to me it is unbelieaveble that people who claims to be “real racing fans” just don’t care, for “whatever reason” people here just don’t care. The so called “racing team” Williams is also a shame, whoever they pick for 2018 on that list is definetly not an improvement on MAssa, so even if they would have a better car with Paddy Lowe (who probably wanted Massa to stay), the drivers will not deliever, they will have their worst season since 2013, I guarantee. Williams had sold their “racing soul”, and the price when it comes to sport is going to be bigger than they think.

    1. There is no future in F1 for Massa and that doesnt change whatever disgrace they fill up their cars with after hes gone. All the better for him if hes gone when Williams implode.

  15. So, first season without a driver from Brazil since 1969? It’s actually disturbing how it went from having great champions like Fittipaldi, Piquet and Senna, who not only were outstanding drivers but also had really strong personalities, to untalented support-role cry-babies like Barrichello and Massa.

    1. untalented is too harsh.

      1. Probably, but that comes from the frustration of having to deal with such a decline. In any case, it’s a few (or a lot of) steps back between those two and the other three I mentioned.

    2. Barrichello and Massa aren’t untalented. For sure they aren’t tier 1 drivers but to be here so many years in F1 you have to deliver good performance.

      Right now Pietro Fittipaldi is close to win Formula V8 with a very good performance besides some mistakes. There’s Enzo Fittipaldi on Ferrari Junior Driver Academy and Sette Camera on Formula 2 (who isn’t impressive but he is getting better).

      1. Beeny of the Lamp
        4th November 2017, 18:28

        What happened to Felipe Nasr? He seems to have dropped off the radar.

        1. In short, the money ran out

        2. I think the problem wasn’t really the money, if he had a good second year in Sauber he could be at Williams now. But a bad year in a bad car can destroy a driver career very easily. Seeing how he was amazing at rain in Brasil overtaking so many faster cars I can say he has talent for sure. Now it’s too late.

    3. They both whinge a lot, but it’s a stretch to call either of them untalented. We’ll never know what might have been if either of them were ever allowed to challenge Schumacher (and Alonso, in Felipe’s case… twice bitten) on equal terms. In any case, I rate Felipe much higher than I do Rubens… both in terms of whinging and driving ability. I also just respect the hell out of him for coming back & being competitive after such a serious accident. I’ve never, ever liked Felipe Massa, but I certainly respect the hell out of him as an F1 driver.

  16. Oh please, let Kubica get the empty seat! He is the genuine article.

    1. I second that!

  17. Wehrlein is obvious choice

    1. Wehrlein hasn’t been super impressive perhaps, but at least he’s better compared to the worse options like di Resta and Kubica. If age wasn’t an issue, I doubt Williams would even bother with those two.

    2. I think Wherlein is the only option that can be better than Felipe.

  18. Finally some good news

  19. Sebastian Buemi would be a good pick. Like Hartley, dropped early in his career by Red Bull, but has been the class of Formula E by a mile, deserves another go.

    1. Di Grassi is far better than Buemi.

      1. Not on the basis of results, and results count in the end..

        1. What results? He almost lost last seasons with a far better car and managed to lose this year with a dominant car. Even skipping a race he could have easily won the champioship.

          1. If the car was that dominant, Nico Prost should have done better?

          2. Everyone knows that Prost is a mediocre driver.

        2. And in the first season Buemi only finished ahead because Di Grassi got disqualified. Otherwise he would be 15 points behind.

          1. You can cherry pick if you like, but overall Buemi was the star of the last two Formula E seasons.

            If I were to cherry pick, my only memory of Di Grassi in F1 is him crashing spectacularly on the way to the grid in Japan…?

        3. Ps: And champion of the first season also. He would have finished 13 pts ahead of Piquet.

          1. Sigh. You mean he wasn’t champion because he didn’t get enough points? That’s the way it works in competitions, no prizes for the might have beens.

    2. @frasier
      Buemi wasn’t dropped by Red Bull, he’s still their test driver as far as I know?

      1. Oh, didn’t know that..

      2. Seems he did serve as RBR reserve until 2014, but no longer.. according to Wikipedia, and they’re never wrong ; – )

        1. @frasier, in this case, it’s because nobody has been bothered to update the articles on Wikipedia – if you go to Red Bull’s website, his biography states that he is still a member of the team as of this year (it talks about how he will be helping the team in 2017).

          1. OK, I obviously should treat Wiki with even more suspicion than I do already..

          2. @frasier
            Theres no suspision about the wikipedia article. It states Buemi will continue as Red Bull test driver for 2013 and 2014 and links to an autosport interview as the source. After that there is no update on the matter.

            If you read an old book do you trust everything in it to be up to date? :)

          3. @rethla Were that the last reference to Buemi in this Wikipedia article

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Buemi

            Then I’d agree with you. But it’s not.

            Not only is there a section dedicated to his time with Red Bull, but there’s full coverage of his career beyond Red Bull, so Wikipedia are -1 on this subject

      3. Michael Brown (@)
        4th November 2017, 19:14

        He still has Red Bull sponsorship, doesn’t he?

  20. I’ll believe it when I see it!

    I hope Massa gets a good finish in his second farewell race at Interlagos, and doesn’t bin it like last time. He used to be unbeatable around there.

    Kubica would be another good guy and a fabulous story, if he is physically up to it.

    Otherwise it’s heartbreaking to see a great team choosing from such an underwhelming bunch of drivers. If Mercedes connections are why Wehrlein’s mentioned, then I’d rather see George Russell get the drive. Or another Brendon Hartley – someone like Andre Lotterer. It’s no good having the fastest pit crew in F1 if the driver’s losing you that time and more every lap…

    1. Fernando Mariano
      4th November 2017, 16:47

      Totally agreed. If there is anyone with the same talent as Massa is Kubica, and the thing is if Kubica can still perform, wich unfortunately I don’t think it is the case. The other drivers are from average to bellow that, DiResta was never a thing even when he was in F1, Wherlein can’t beat Ericsson, Kyvat is a mistake prone, a lot of times slow, just as Grosjean and some others. Like it or not, Felipe is still better than half of the grid by quite a margin, Felipe was a guy who was 8-10 against Alonso on his prime on qualy in 2013, in a team that was all about Alonso, totally favoured (Santander years). People liked to talk Felipe down, but just look what Alonso did to the others and he was not even competing for a title, and not being totally favoured like in Ferrari. Williams will have a very bad year in 2018, and this time will be totally due to the drivers, because the car should be better than 2016 and 2017. Stroll is also a joke, he is 2-15 against Massa with an average of +0.7s, he should be gone, and he will be gone from a year or two now. Williams is all about the money right now… sad.

  21. Goodbye and have a nice life! Enough of this story. Hope that we can see, finally, a good brazilian racer in Formula 1 in the near future.

  22. Massa almost won in Baku on pure merit overtaking 4-5 cars, but then he had that suspension problem. Last race he was 6th ahead of Raikonen and looking at where Stroll finished he could have battled with Ocon for 4th place if it wasn’t for his puncture.

    He is just an above average driver very unlucky. But he is still better than many drivers on F1 grid.

    1. Fernando Mariano
      4th November 2017, 16:24

      +1

  23. Please make it happen, Williams
    Give Kubica a chance, it would make for a beautiful story in the future

  24. I going to quote my comment from last season

    YES

    and add a little more.
    YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEYSEYSYES!
    Had Massa not been in Ferrari and had you read 15 years of Massa statements to the Brazillian media you would not like Felipe at all. Sly, hypocrite, egocentric, he’s just shown a bit of it when discrediting Williams other drivers or rather making a public attack on Di Resta and a hateful attack on Kubica.

    1. Hateful attack? He only said that he can’t believe a driver can complete a season with his problem.

      1. I think Pennyroyal is trying to provoke a reaction…..
        Why can Stroll not be rested for the next race and Kubica have the seat??
        Drivers can be changed as Torro Rosso have just shown us…..if Kubica showed any promise, they could retire Massa for the last race……I am a great admirer of Kubica(maybe not in a Rally Car), but I am not sure he can be a major player in F1 again…but 2 races will give an idea…..and I am willing to be proved wrong
        ps Di Resta is not the answer either

  25. For the first time in 49 years no Brazilian drivers on grid next. Bit of a shame as Brazil has a long and successful history in F1. One of the traditional racing nations where F1 has a real following.

  26. I think Kubica would be a huge boost for older F1 fans who haven’t tuned in to come back.

    1. Kubica would be an even bigger boost for older F1 fans who have never left. ;)

    2. Yeah, but I don’t want to see him fail. He has been far too long out of the sport from a technical, physical, and reaction-time standpoint. Don’t kid yourself, he wouldn’t be as good as Felipe. One crash and the feel-good story we all long for could take a decidedly different turn.

    3. For older fans Kubica is quite a newbie, joined F1 in late 2006, and always been quite mediocre, just slightly faster than Heidfeld.

  27. Massa’s post-2008 has been a really unlucky one. I always supported him and Ferrari. While Scuderia won many races and at least came close to the title (and can win one in a future), it’s really painful what happened to Felipe. After a very disappointing start to 2009 following his heartbreaking title defeat, he was starting to coming onto his own in F60 when freak accident happened. He survived and led the championship early 2010 but then everything evaporated. Alonso took over, destroyed Felipe on the track and mentally. Kudos to him for recovery in the second half of 2012, giving something positive after nightmare two-and-a-bit years. He was rejuvenated at Williams, claiming one of the few Mercedes poles and chased Hamilton to the flag in Abu Dhabi. However it were the disappointments – he could have scored one of the best ever victories in Canada 2014 but couldn’t make it happen. He could have won Baku this year as well. He isn’t a top-level driver but deserved more happy moments.

  28. As much as it pains me to say if there were clear evidence that Robert could perform to levels anywhere near his pre accident form, consistently throughout a 20 races calendar, Renault would have kept him. I am not sure even he is convinced it is possible.
    As for diResta, hes had his chance in F1 and didnt make it. Clearly not a top tier driver.
    Young Stroll is no Verstappen. He gets beaten by Felipe pretty much every weekend where Massa’s car holds up, both in qualifying and in race conditions.
    Williams are pretty much out of options at this point.

  29. Very sad. As a Massa fan, the grid won’t be the same without him.

    Williams are making such a stupid decision, who will do a better job, di Resta certainly won’t.

  30. Definitely annoying decision, massa is better than kvyat, di resta and possibly even wehrlein, only if kubica has a form very close to before the retirement he could be an improvement.

    If there’s anyone else than him in the seat, it will go worse, massa was doing absolutely fine this year, so I don’t see the rush to replace him unless they actually want to bring kubica back.

  31. Massa? Thought he left last year already ;-) Invisible drive this year. Williams please start making better decisions

    1. As bad as Massa is hes not the wrong decision this year.

      1. He is ALWAYS the wrong decision. Notwithstanding his performance in the far past, he has not performed the last 8 years. Lets not keep people around so long, it diminishes the level of the sport overall and makes them look like a joke, while once they were top notch.

  32. Melbourne will be the first GP without a Brazilian driver on the grid since the 1982 San Marino GP? And that’s only because of the FOCA boycott. Since halfway 1970, there has always been a participating Brazilian at the GP’s (asside from a few technical DNS’s and DNQ’s). That’s nearly 48 years. That’s gonna influence wether there will be a Brazilian GP the coming years.

    1. Not sure how that’s relevant to an international series. Guess what? When Hamilton retires (probably sooner rather than later) there won’t be a Brit on the grid for the first time since, er, since I don’t know when, might be ever. It won’t change anything, if it’s financially feasible, there’ll still be Silverstone where the first ever F1 race was held. France, who probably started motor racing as we know it haven’t had a driver on the grid in years and now they are coming back through but that’s nit the reason the French GP is back. The only reason there hasn’t been a French GP in years is because of the Magny Curse and don’t even get started on the German Grand Prix.

  33. We knew for quite some time that Massa was past his peak. In 2008 he had a fantastic season, beating his defending champion team-mate, and missing the title the way everybody knows.

    That was what hurt the most at the time: everybody knew Hamilton would have many other championships to fight for, even though it took longer than expected, but that was clearly Massa’s best shot.

    I’m convinced his accident cost him that few precious tenths of a second and racing alongside Alonso made him look mediocre.

    Comparing his career with Barrichello’s shows us how statistics can be misleading: both had 11 race wins and were championship runners-up (Barrichello twice, in 2002 and 2004), but Massa had a real shot in 2008 and fought his team-mate for every win.

    Barrichello’s 2nd places were with half the champion’s points (his team-mate) and at least half his wins came after the championship was sealed for Schumacher. Ironically, Barrichello’s best shot came in 2009, when he ended 3rd in the championship behind Button and Vettel.

    Barrichello’s most memorable performances were completely without pressure (his giant-killing performances with Jordan and Stewart, and that unforgettable maiden win with Ferrari from 18th on the grid), while Massa was at his best when everything was at stake (His 2008 Brazilian GP weekend was perfect)

    We Brazilians were so spoilt by the 80’s and early 90’s that we don’t respect Massa and Barrichello the way we should, but their 22 wins over the past 25 years are well over France’s, Italy’s, Canada’s, Australia’s, USA’s and Austria’s tallies during the same period. Only the all conquering Germany and UK, and Spain and Finland did better during the same period.

    Now we will surely miss them.

  34. The idea of having to get an over-the hill driver of drinking age when there are so many awesome young pilots coming up is ridiculous.

    Williams: Keep Felipe as a brand ambassador for Martini, pay him well, and use him as a reserve driver if that helps justify the cost.

    And get a driver who will get you points, otherwise you’re going to be well behind, hoping that Honda doesn’t get their act together or dicing with Le Clerc in the upgraded Sauber.

  35. As a Brazilian I feel a little bit disappointed in not having another Brazilian driver racing in F1. Despite Massa’s failure in getting any better result in the past few years, it has been nice to have at least a Brazilian on the grid. Lots and lots of Brazilian are totally affectionate about racing sports and no wonder a bunch of Brazilian drivers won F1 titles. It so happens the local media, in my opinion, is killing F1 in Brazil, not transmitting a single race anymore. Besides, Brazilians want another Senna-esque driver to come out and that is quite impossible, and that blinds them to other great drivers that have been emerging. Drivers such as Barrichello and Massa were completely ostracized by the Brazilians, but they were good drivers tho. Muito obrigado, Massa!

  36. So now, in terms of driver nationality, Brazil is wiped out of F1 the same way Japan was. come to think of it, Webber couldn’t break the European championship streak in the WDC , now it is up to Ricciardo but I think Verstappen will always have an upper hand at RBR. So who could be the next non-European WDC in F1 ? Perez is the only possibility , rather a far fetched one.

  37. Hard to believe now that Massa was asked to move out of Schumacher’s way. Out-performed Lewis at times in 2007 (Lewis’ best season) same again in 2008, then initially held Alonso behind him at Ferrari.

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