Recently, Felipe Massa made an appearance in the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast. He spoke extensively on his F1 career through the years and even opened up on his Williams F1 stint. The veteran Brazilian contrasted his time with Sauber, his debut team, and Williams, where he ended his career. According to him, Williams F1 was far superior compared to Sauber. However, that changed when BMW partnered Sauber.
He confessed that it is sad to see the team’s state of affairs, after racing with them for four years. Felipe Massa also admitted that the team’s downfall surprised him. When he arrived in 2014, the Williams F1 team was in a very bad way. In other words, it was almost reduced to the status of a small team like Marussia and Caterham. Fortunately, he was able to help them reach 3rd in the championship, twice, and finish in the Top 5 twice.
via Imago
Felipe Massa
According to Felipe Massa, it didn’t last
However, all good things must come to an end, since it was difficult to make the car competitive from an aerodynamic sense. In the first year itself, the car struggled with downforce. Luckily, a decent and quick Mercedes engine offset that issue. The Brazilian veteran also spoke about his ‘recall year’, where he often delivered excellent drives, only for bad luck to strike.
He confessed that he even thought about staying on for one more year and told the team the same. However, he told them that their duty is to let him know that they intend to keep him. Unfortunately, none of the team members gave a clear indication that they were going to retain him. Massa gave the team a deadline of the Brazilian GP to make up their minds and let him know. This is because, he had already planned to announce his retirement there.
