Williams explain Massa departure

Williams' chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has given an explanation as to why Felipe Massa decided to retire after the 2017 campaign and was never mentioned in the conversation to continue, and it appears the Brazilian simply needed assurances of his future too early when the team were not sure of their plans.

Massa was originally meant to retire in 2016, but opted to continue and help out Williams after Valtteri Bottas jumped ship to Mercedes. The Brazilian could have stayed on beyond 2017, but apparently wanted a confirmed contract before the team was ready to put one on the table, according to Lowe.

"With the timing of it all, Felipe needed a decision before Brazil," Lowe told Motorsport.com.

"We weren't able to. He was still in the running and was a strong candidate. But we weren't able to make that commitment at that point. So we agreed that he would drop out of considerations and retire from the team."

Lowe went on to praise Massa for his efforts, and believes the Brazilian was a good complimentary driver to Lance Stroll.

He added: "He was a great reference for [the performance of the FW40].

"You always need a good reference somewhere in the garage.

"Felipe has provided that reference at every race actually, and that's been really valuable.

"There haven't been days where he's been lost. [He has always] been able to give a reference for Lance, and I think that's also quite remarkable."

Williams' second seat for 2018 is the only seat which is not filled as of yet, and the current candidates for the role are Sergey Sirotkin, Daniil Kvyat, and Robert Kubica