Why Williams is considering a return for Felipe Massa

The images of Felipe Massa walking up the pit lane in tears during his last Grand Prix at Interlagos will remain in the memory of F1 for many years.

But this Grand Prix might not ultimately be the last for the Brazilian driver, who could come out of retirement before even starting it. Indeed, he might make his comeback as early as next season with Williams to unlock the situation in the transfer market.

Mercedes was indeed caught off guard by Nico Rosberg’s decision, who hung up his helmet right after his world championship win. Obviously, the decision came so late that the team was no longer able to bring in one of the most sought-after drivers on the grid.

Besides his two protégés, Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein, Valtteri Bottas has appeared from the beginning as an ideal candidate to replace Rosberg. But there are several major constraints. Here, it is important to remember that Williams pushed Felipe Massa out to bring in Lance Stroll and the tens of millions of euros that his father could bring them.

The arrival of an 18-year-old beginner thus requires having an experienced driver, especially in a year where the technical regulations change significantly. Furthermore, it is rumored that the contract of the young Canadian simply requires having an experienced driver by his side; so it appears natural for the F3 champion to be overshadowed by his teammate during his first season in the elite. This explains why Williams refused to let Valtteri Bottas leave for Renault, in favor of Nico Hülkenberg.

But other, less sporting reasons push for an experienced driver to be part of the Williams driver duo. Indeed, the team’s title sponsor is Martini. This therefore requires having at least one driver old enough to advertise an alcohol brand in all the countries where F1 goes.

It is in this context that Felipe Massa could be the solution to all the problems: he knows the team’s operations perfectly and has been necessarily involved in the development of the car for the next season. Moreover, Williams could then secure a significant, if not complete, discount on the price of its engine purchased from Mercedes, knowing that it can rely on the 22 million euros that Mercedes will save on Nico Rosberg’s salary.

The money thus saved on this expenditure could then be reinvested in the development of the car and/or the team’s infrastructure, which necessarily brings a long-term gain.

This solution would then give Valtteri Bottas the chance of a lifetime by joining the best team on the grid while allowing Williams to improve its medium-term prospects by offering Felipe Massa a final farewell tour, as he wasn’t entirely willing to retire.

Mercedes has already announced that the decision would not be made public until 2017, indicating that a solution has not yet been found and that negotiations are ongoing.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr