Williams Suffering for Chasing Money: Massa

Retired F1 driver Felipe Massa has no regrets about retiring from Formula One. But every now and then, he cannot resist taking a few jibes at his former team Williams. The Brazilian veteran believes that they are paying the price for prioritising money in some of its decisions for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

The Grove-based team has had a tough start to the season and is the only team to get on the scoreboard after three races.

According to Massa, Williams’s difficulties can be pinpointed to the lack of money that the big manufacturer teams are privy to. This has possibly led to them fielding a well-backed but inexperienced pair of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin.

Massa said,

“It’s true that the team was suffering from the financial situation and I think they made decisions for 2018 putting money first. But this is not enough to make a competitive championship. All I can say is that I came out with my head held high. I have a good relationship with everyone at Grove and I hope that the best for the team comes out as soon as possible. But I can add that I’m happy to have made my decision last year.”

Massa also admitted that he chose the right time to bail out and is currently enjoying retirement. He also expressed genuine surprise at

Ferrari’s early pace. Sebastian Vettel won the first two races of the season as well as bag two pole positions from the opening three rounds. Massa said that he expected Mercedes to be far ahead of Ferrari, and that Red Bull could join the fight.“What we saw in the first races was great for the sport because we did not see just one team winning. I am happy that Ferrari has started well. In the Maranello team they have made several changes in the last two years and many thought they were backwards. [But] they have shown that they have a large group that knows how to work very well. This makes me happy because I’ve always been a Ferrari fan.”