Felipe Massa Tag

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Formula One’s second pre-season test ended the way the first test began; with Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari firmly atop the timesheets. The German slapped a set of Pirelli’s super-softs in the morning session to post the fastest time of the pre-season with a strong 1:22.852 tour of Circuit de Catalunya. With Ferrari the quickest car on five of the eight days of testing, things near the sharp end of the field seem to have tightened between them, Mercedes and Williams. Vettel also ran the haloRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Williams has revealed the first images of its 2016 design, the FW38. While it appears to be a clear evolution of its successful predecessor, major changes have taken place under the skin to help the team hold onto its new found place at the sharp end of the field, including improvements for slow speed cornering and running in the wet. Despite finishing third in the Constructor’s Standings in 2014 and 2015, Williams enters 2016 on defense. A resurgent Ferrari has supplanted them as Mercedes’ strongest challenger,Read More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Last Friday representatives from all 11 Formula One teams met with Charlie Whiting at Heathrow to finalize the 2017 rule book. It was a spectacular failure and since then the countdown to come to an agreement has begun ticking. A second meeting held this week at Pirelli HQ in Milan saw Pirelli’s chairman Marco Provera and motorsport director Paul Hembery meet with FIA President Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone, multiple team bosses and a group of drivers including Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.Read More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor An examination of the 2015 Formula One season clearly shows a noticeable dip in the performance of the Williams cars in the latter half of the season. According to Performance Chief Rob Smedley this is because the team stopped development of the FW37 early once they realized they would secure third place in the Constructors’ standings but couldn’t reach Ferrari for second. “We stopped development on this car quite a long time ago having projected we would have a comfortable third position in the championship andRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Williams F1 team has decided to drop its appeal on Felipe Massa’s disqualification from the Brazilian Grand Prix. Massa finished eighth in his home race, but had the result thrown out by the FIA after his tires were found to be over the maximum temperature allowed on the grid. “Following detailed consideration the team has concluded that despite not agreeing with the exclusion and believing it has sufficient evidence with which to successfully contest the ruling, it will not formally appeal the decision as aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The FIA has found the tire temperature on the Williams machine driven by Felipe Massa to be over the maximum allowed ahead of the start of the race and as a result have thrown the Brazilian out of his home grand prix. The team plans to appeal the decision. The exclusion will take away Massa’s eighth-place finish and push Romain Grosjean to eighth, Max Verstappen to ninth and Pastor Maldonado to tenth. The Mercedes-powered Williams was found to have a right rear tire temperature measured atRead More

Lewis Hamilton moved within touching distance of a third F1 drivers’ title as he took a dominant Russian Grand Prix victory ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, while Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg retired from the race with a mechanical failure soon after the start of the race. Hamilton’s 42nd win also saw him surpass boyhood hero Ayrton Senna’s career wins total. With Vettel second, Sergio Perez claimed his and Force India’s first podium finish of the year, the Mexican profiting from a final-lap collision involving Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s KimiRead More

Speaking privately before today’s Italian Grand Prix, Hollywood legend George Lucas asked Lewis Hamilton why he didn’t go out and win a race by 20 seconds, today Lewis Hamilton did. In doing so, the performance of the year was shaded by controversy. Hamilton who had pulled away from Sebastian Vettel in second, had a 20 second lead going into lap 48 of 53 at Monza when he received a mysterious radio transmission instructing him to pick up the pace and not ask questions. Hamilton duly noted the instructions and uppedRead More

The Italian Grand Prix is special. A look in the team garages to see the likes of FCA boss Sergio Marchionne and Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsch reveals just how much the Italian round of the championship means to to teams. Just one look at the scarlet coated grandstands shows how much it means to the fans, the tifosi. Just one look at the drivers shows how much it means to them, their commitment, their passion. Qualifying at Monza is all about speed and today we were treated to a spectacularRead More

Williams has confirmed that it will retain Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas for the 2016 Formula 1 season. The team had an option on Massa’s contract to extend his deal for another year, with expectations being that the Brazilian would stay on for a third consecutive season. Bottas had been linked and considered the heavy favorite to Kimi Raikkonen’s seat over at Ferrari, but with the Italian team picking up Raikkonen’s option for 2016 much of the talk surrounding the Williams driver has been relaxed in recent weeks. The moveRead More