Massa on Williams replacement: 'It's all financial'

Massa on Williams replacement: 'It's all financial'

Originally written by Joas van Wingerden. This version is a translation.

Saturday 16 December 2017 11:56

Recently-retired F1 driver Felipe Massa has passed comment on the ongoing saga over who will replace him in the final Williams seat for next season, and is of the opinion that the decision will likely be heavily influenced by the financial clout of each driver.

Massa's move out of F1 started the rumour mill for who could potentially replace him for 2018; initially it seemed that Paul Di Resta and Kubica, both of whom had done testing during the season, were the front runners for the spot.

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But recently Sergey Sirotkin, who allegedly has a significant Russian sponsor backing his push for the seat to the tune of £15m, but Daniil Kyvat, who is also well-funded from Russia, have muscled their way into the picture.

This has clouded the issue to the extent that Williams have delayed their announcement until 2018, leaving the drivers in limbo over the Christmas period.

Massa believes however that when Williams make the call the financial aspects of the deal, more so than the relative skill of the drivers in contention, will be a definitive factor in the decision.

He told Autosport: "The path of the team is financial, including Kubica, so it does not surprise me.

"But I don't know what will happen, I'm not following the team now. My thoughts are in other things and what I'm doing from now, and it's not F1 anymore."