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Felipe Massa Opens up on Williams F1 Snub Before F1 Exit

Published 05/05/2020, 6:40 AM EDT

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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

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.

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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