After the emotional, tear-jerking scenes of the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, it appeared Felipe Massa’s illustrious Formula 1 career was coming to a close. After 11 grand prix victories, 16 pole positions and a near-miss in 2008 for the drivers’ championship, the smiling Brazilian was set to move on from F1.
Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement after winning his first drivers’ title quickly led to increased speculation regarding who would replace the German. Williams allowed Valtteri Bottas to join Mercedes while they looked for an experienced replacement – Massa returning was the only option.
Many fans questioned whether Williams should have signed Massa for 2017 considering his disappointing form in 2016 after being beaten in qualifying by Bottas 17-4 and scoring just 13 points in the second half of the season. Alongside rookie and current European Formula 3 champion Lance Stroll, Williams arguably has the second weakest driver line-up on the grid, only ahead of Sauber.
Despite all of the concerns regarding Williams’ driver line-up and the new regulations not suiting the team’s low drag, fast on the straights philosophy, the Grove-based squad look to be in a strong position going into the season opener in Melbourne on March 26.
Williams enjoyed a strong second test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing the third most amount of laps behind Mercedes and Ferrari, and looks to be ahead of midfield rivals Force India, Renault and Toro Rosso.
Williams performance chief Rob Smedley has already stated he expects the new 2017 cars to suit Massa’s driving style.
“I think it suits his driving style perfectly really,” Smedley said. “The cars that we have got now are much more akin to the cars when he had his more successful years.
“So [like] a 2008 car, with a very wide front tyre, very, very good grip all the way from turn-in up to the apex. We’ve been definitely missing that for the last seven years, and he struggled a little bit with that.”
“The more front end you can give Felipe, as long as you have a solid rear, then the more he will be able to deliver from his driving style. And from what we have seen at the minute, he’s very very comfortable.”
The 35-year-old struggled considerably with rear tyre degradation compared to Bottas during their time together in 2014-16 and with the new Pirelli tyres offering more durability and being able to push, the man from Sao Paulo may just have a mini-revival in what could be his final year in the sport.
What of the second Williams?
Stroll makes his debut after two years in European F3. His Williams career got off to a difficult start, making mistakes throughout the first test in Barcelona but he quickly learned from them and looked solid in the second.
It will be a baptism of fire for the 18-year-old, he will have to learn quickly and with the FW40 looking competitive going into the new campaign, he will have to make the most of it.
The midfield looks tighter than ever, Williams, Force India, Toro Rosso, Haas and Renault look to be separated by just a couple of tenths and surely McLaren will join this pack once Honda sorts its reliability issues.
The key for Williams in 2017 will be developing the car well. In 2016, they started the year as the fourth fastest team but was unable to maintain that. With the development race expected to be faster than ever, everyone back in Grove will be needing to do their utmost to finish fourth in the constructors’ championship.
With the recent arrival of Paddy Lowe and winter testing being very positive, Massa may just lead a Williams resurgence in 2017.
