Felipe Massa agrees to drive for Williams in 2017

While negotiations between Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas are still ongoing, Felipe Massa has reportedly already sided with Claire Williams by reversing his decision made since Monza last September.

According to information gathered by the website Motorsport.com – and confirmed by all other major media outlets – the three-time world champion team indeed wishes to hire Bottas to fill the void left by the departure of Nico Rosberg, who retired in shock a few days after winning his first world title.

The Brackley team had already approached Williams to engage the Finn in exchange for a reduction in the cost of using the German engine and Pascal Wehrlein as a driver to replace him. This proposal was declined mainly because the Grove team wants to add an experienced driver alongside young Lance Stroll. The young Canadian (barely 18 years old) has no experience in Formula 1 and will need a strong teammate to teach him and compensate for his potential youthful mistakes. All this is happening in the context of an aerodynamic revolution that will result in faster cars that are also more demanding to drive.

For these reasons, the British team approached Felipe Massa to extend his contract for an additional season. His experience (15 seasons since 2002, 250 Grand Prix races) will be very useful for training the young Canadian but will be especially essential for guiding the team in terms of development. The Sao Paulo native also draws on his accumulated experience at Grove, having competed in a total of three seasons, all with a hybrid engine behind him.

This news therefore puts Valtteri Bottas’ signing with Mercedes on a very good track, as Niki Lauda, non-executive director, stated a few days ago that the negotiations to replace Rosberg were difficult and that it would force the team to postpone its decision until January.