Felipe Massa believes Williams will likely be the last team he races for before bowing out of Formula 1.
Massa has recently been tied down to a contract extension along with team-mate Valtteri Bottas to remain with the Grove-based outfit, with his new contract reportedly being one lasting for another three years. The Brazilian vindicated the team’s decision to retain him by scoring his first podium in over a year at Monza earlier this month.
That being proof of the belief Massa has of feeling more at home at Williams than he did towards the end of his time at Ferrari, admitting it was “something that they [Ferrari] changed, a little bit.”
“You feel better. I don’t see myself as a leader, I just feel that everything I say, people are listening and people are doing.” the 33 year-old told Crash.net in an exclusive interview at Singapore.
“It needs to be like that and it’s something I lost a little bit at Ferrari. For me this is important, not because you are having better or worse results than your team-mate but because it’s important for the team anyway.
“So I feel that the team really, really respects me and supports me at the top level, and I think that’s important for the team, not just to help me but if they help me they help the team.
“It’s not that the team does some things differently for me or for Valtteri, it’s just something that they are doing which is best for the team and they listened to everybody. I think that’s important.”
Massa sees Williams as a place where he can bring his F1 career to a close and aims to be a strong competitor for as long as he can be.
“I don’t know how long I will stay here, so I think maybe it can be my last team, definitely… I think it will be my last team,” he said.
“I don’t know when it will happen – the time to stop – but for sure I am a happy man and I want to be racing as long as I am at the top level.
“I hope I will stay for another two or three years or maybe more but I don’t know. I’m not thinking too far ahead, I’m enjoying my time now and I hope I can still enjoy myself for another two or three years and then maybe it’s the time.”
