After finishing ninth in his final Formula One outing, Felipe Massa says he was ‘proud’ to be fighting till the very end.
The Brazilian finished the race under the lights of Abu Dhabi within a second of Force India’s Sergio Perez and a second ahead of former Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso.
“Well, I’m really proud to have been fighting up to the last lap of the race in the same way I fought in the first lap of my career,” he said.
“I want to say thank you to everyone – everyone who has been with me all the way, racing together. Thank you to the fans and to Williams, who I will keep supporting in the future.
“Thank you to everyone who has been part of everything I have been through. I have finished my career with my head up, the same way I started my career.”
Massa was given his 2016 Williams chassis as a present and it will be returned to the one-off ‘Massa’ livery which was used in his final home race in Brazil.
“I also took a little extra care with the car seeing as it will now be my car – thank you again to Williams for that gift.”
Massa ended the 2016 season in 11th place in the Drivers’ Championship, one point and one place behind Alonso.
