Felipe Massa Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After two seasons with regular podiums, Williams Martini Racing slipped behind Force India last year for a disappointing fifth in the Constructor’s standings. A turbulent off season saw them lose Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes after Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement. This caused an awkward exchange when the team immediately called veteran Felipe Massa out of retirement. The affable Brazilian agreed and he leads Williams for at least one more season. He is joined by Canadian rookie Lance Stroll, who won blitzed last year’s European F3 Championship andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor It was all thumbs up for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari today. The four time champ looked absolutely unassailable as he set the fastest time of testing so far and completed a day high 156 laps. His 1:19.024 on ultra softs bested the Mercedes duo on the same tires by three tenths of a second and Felipe Massa’s Williams by four tenths. So confident was Vettel that he visibly slowed on the final straight for most of his fast laps, an ominious sign for their challengers that theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Just as many began to doubt Mercedes’ pace, the silver arrows struck back with Valtteri Bottas who set a scorching 1:19.310 lap of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The new Mercedes man only used the super soft tires to set the best time of 2017 thus far, and looked very comfortable behind the wheel of the W08 where he stayed for 70 laps today. Williams man and yesterday’s pace setter Felipe Massa kept him honest with a strong 1:19.420 for the ultra soft shod FW40. Both of their timesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Felipe Massa and Williams surprised the field by topping the time sheets for the opening day of the second pre-season test from Barcelona today. The Brazilian veteran clocked a solid 1:19.726 in his FW40 on the super soft tires and logged a massive 168 laps around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Daniel Ricciardo got Red Bull close to Massa’s time with a 1:19.900, but had to run the ultra soft tires in order to do so. The Aussie ran 89 laps for a solid if most unspectacular dayRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The much anticipated 2017 Formula One cars finally took to the track en masse today at Circuit de Bracelona-Catalunya in Spain. Unsurprisingly Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest time with a solid 1:21.765 on the soft tires. Somewhat surprisingly, Sebastian Vettel nearly matched him with a 1:21.878 on the mediums! The Mercedes looks good, but Ferrari’s risky new design seems to work well. Both teams performed flawlessly and racked up the mileage. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and newcomer Valtteri Bottas covered 152 laps for theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Following renderings of its 2017 challenger, Williams has finally released the first images of the FW40. The famous Martini Racing stripes remain a part of the team for a fourth consecutive season and runs upward on a very pronounced sharkfin, similar to every team with the exception of Mercedes. The sidepods and airbox are also noticeably modified compared to last year’s car. The team welcomes the return of veteran Felipe Massa, whom came back from a brief retirement at the end of last season when ValtteriRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Lance Stroll believes he is ready to learn what it takes to compete in his debut Formula 1 season and embraces having veteran Felipe Massa to lean on as a teammate at Williams F1. The 18-year-old Canadian blitzed European Formula 3 with 14 wins in 30 starts en route to the championship with Prema Powerteam. The incoming rookie looks to Massa as a ‘mentor’ as prepares for the start of the season on March 24-26 in the Australian Grand Prix. The team took to Twitter withRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor There is a reason Toto Wolff is so happy Valtteri Bottas has finally signed for Mercedes. Consequently, there is a reason Claire Williams is so happy Felipe Massa is back with her team as Bottas’ replacement. Teams with experienced veterans are rejoicing ahead of the 2017 regulations because they know that experience will count more than ever before. It is not unusual for cars and teams to be pushed to their breaking point during the debut season of major rule changes, but 2017 is going toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Williams officially announced Felipe Massa is re-joining the team for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 35-year-Brazilian’s return means that he will team alongside incoming rookie driver Lance Stroll, with Valtteri Bottas released to join Mercedes – also on a one year deal. Massa announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the 2016, but the shocking retirement of reigning world champion Nico Rosberg just days after winning the title opened up negotiations between Mercedes and Williams in an attempt to bring on Bottas. WilliamsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Mercedes has finally announced that Valtteri Bottas as its driver for the 2017 Formula 1 season alongside Lewis Hamilton. Bottas replaces reigning world champion Nico Rosberg, who announced his shocking retirement just days after winning the title in a thriller in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Finn emerged as the favorite to replace Rosberg, but with a contract in place at Williams for 2017 it meant Mercedes had to negotiate a deal with the Grove-based outfit to release him for the upcoming season. ItRead More