Felipe Massa

 Felipe Massa said Williams ‘respect me a lot and the results are there’. Photograph: Action Press/Rex Shutterstock

season, the Formula One team said on Thursday in an announcement that ends speculation about the possible return of Jenson Button.

“Stability is key for any team to thrive in Formula One,” said the team’s principal, Frank Williams, in a statement at the Italian Grand Prix.

“So to be able to enter a third season with one of the strongest driver lineups on the grid puts Williams in a fantastic position to continue its momentum towards the front of the grid in 2016.”



F1 without Monza on the schedule simply wouldn’t be F1

The decision means yet another unchanged lineup among the leading teams, with the champions Mercedes and Ferrari having confirmed their drivers and both Red Bull men under long-term contracts.

Bottas had been strongly linked to Ferrari as a likely replacement for his compatriot Kimi Raikkonen until the Italian team confirmed the 2007 world champion would be staying with them for another year.

There had also been speculation that the 2009 world champion Button could move from McLaren, who are having a dreadful season and have younger drivers knocking on the door, to Williams, where he started his career in 2000.

Bottas could still be in the frame to move to Maranello in 2017, however, with the statement referring only to next year.

“I am really pleased to be staying with the team for a fourth F1 race season,” said the 26-year-old, who took a third place in Canada earlier this season.

“We have been getting stronger as a team and I look forward to what next year will bring, as I believe we can achieve even stronger results than what we have seen so far.”
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Massa, 34, had been expected to stay after joining from Ferrari in 2013. The Brazilian remains the last non-Mercedes works driver to take a pole position, in Austria last year, and has been on the podium four times for Williams.

“They respect me a lot and the results are there, and it has been so nice to be part of the big turnaround the team has seen since the end of 2013,” he said.

Williams are third overall, where they finished last season, after scoring only five points and ending up ninth in 2013.

“Both drivers have played a pivotal role in the rejuvenation of Williams,” said Frank Williams. “The successes we’ve enjoyed over the past two seasons would not have been possible without them.”

Button had been linked with a romantic move back to Williams next season, but Williams, the team principal, revealed he was delighted to retain Massa and Bottas for another campaign.

“I’m delighted to confirm that Felipe and Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again next year,” said Williams.

“Stability is key for any team to thrive in Formula One, so to be able to enter a third season with one of the strongest driver lineups on the grid puts Williams in a fantastic position to continue its momentum towards the front of the grid in 2016.”

Medical staff lift Felipe Massa into a helicopter after his crash. Photograph: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

Felipe Massa is to undergo surgery following his accident in today's Hungarian grand prix qualifying.

Although word emerged after a chaotic session that Massa was "okay" after being airlifted to a nearby Budapest hospital, Ferrari later confirmed the Brazilian would need an operation.

A statement read: "After the accident during the qualifying session, Felipe was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest. Felipe was conscious at the arrival of the hospital, and his general conditions remain stable.

"Following a complete medical examination, it emerged he had suffered a cut on his forehead, bone damage to his skull and a brain concussion. These conditions need to be operated on after which he will remain under observation in intensive care."

A Ferrari official confirmed the Brazilian "was hit by something on the helmet, losing control of the car" in the closing stages of the middle 15-minute session. Both team principal Stefano Domenicali and team spokesperson Luca Colajanni later confirmed Massa was out of the event.

The 28-year-old was struck by a piece of debris deposited by Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP.

Replays showed a part of the car coming off the Brawn and bouncing along the same area of the Hungaroring track where the drama began for Massa. Massa later caught the debris, on one of his hot laps, which then bounced up, striking his helmet and knocking him unconscious. Massa's feet must have relaxed at that point, one on the throttle as on-screen graphics showed it remained open, the other on the brake as there were skid marks across the considerable run-off area before he ploughed nose first into a tyre barrier. The fact Massa made no attempt to turn out of the impact appeared to underline the fact he was not conscious as he hurtled into the tyres.
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With Massa stricken in the car, photographs later emerged showing a fist-sized dent in his helmet, and with his visor up, there was a large cut over a blackened left eye. Massa was soon attended to by trackside medics before being taken to the circuit's medical centre, then to hospital for further examination 22 minutes after his crash.

To add to the drama, the timing screens went black towards the end of the top-10 shootout, throwing everybody into confusion as not even the drivers had a clue as to who had taken pole. After several minutes, it finally came through that Fernando Alonso for Renault had taken pole, followed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for McLaren.

It was the double world champion's first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career. Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: "We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened. It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging [German Grand Prix], and we've showed we have made a step forward."

Behind world champion Hamilton will be Williams' Nico Rosberg, the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with championship leader Jenson Button down in eighth. The heat of Budapest was meant to aid Button's cause after the cool of Britain and Germany had led to Red Bull one-twos in the last two races. But not even the sunshine could come to Button's aid, and his 21-point lead in the title race threatens to be eroded further at the Hungaroring.
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Behind Button are Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, with Massa 10th as he naturally took no part in the closing 10 minutes, however, he will be in a position to race tomorrow.

In the 15-minute Q2, the biggest loser was Rubens Barrichello, with the Brazilian failing to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season due to the part that broke off his car.

The 37-year-old will start a miserable 13th, with that failure potentially wrecking his championship chances, which could now prompt Brawn into putting all their eggs into Button's basket.

Although rookie Jaime Alguersuari became the youngest to take part in a Formula One qualifying session, there was no fairytale for the 19-year-old. Alguersuari had run faultlessly through three practice sessions, at least proving he was anything but "a danger" as suggested by triple world champion Niki Lauda.

In qualifying, however, Alguersuari was undermined by an electrical fault that forced him to pull his Toro Rosso off track in the final sector. Come the conclusion of the 20-minute period, Alguersuari sat at the bottom of the timesheets, in many respects where he was expected to finish even if his car had not let him down.

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 21.569secs, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:21.607, 3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:21.741, 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:21.839, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.890, 6 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:22.095, 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:22.468, 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:22.511, 9 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:22.835, 10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.002, 11 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:21.082, 12 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:21.222, 13 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.242, 14 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:21.389, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.738, 16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:21.807, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:21.868, 18 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:21.901, 19 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.359. Not racing: 10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari No time

2015 was another good year for Felipe Massa with Williams – ‘good’, but by no means great. There was very little of note from the Brazilian in terms of stand-out performances, with his finest hour arguably coming in Austria when he managed to keep a charging Sebastian Vettel back to score his first podium of the year.

Another followed at Monza after Nico Rosberg’s late retirement, but Massa was largely anonymous throughout 2015. His best chance of ending his seven-year win drought came at Silverstone when he led for the first stint of the race, only for Williams to play it too safe and cause him to drop back.

As he nears the end of his career, it’s quite hard to gauge Massa’s seasons. Frankly, two podiums is a relatively good haul given the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, and he did well to run Valtteri Bottas as close as he did in the drivers’ championship (although Bottas did start one race less).

It was a very ‘so what?’ year for Massa on the whole though. Forgettable for the most part and too inconsistent towards the end.

Tony DiZinno

In much the same way as Rubens Barrichello’s career is building towards its conclusion, and the driver is still being appreciated along the way, now 34-year-old Massa had another solid if unspectacular season in 2015. Like teammate Valtteri Bottas, it failed to reach the heights of 2014 but still had its moments of glory.

Austria, which has quickly become Williams’ best track since the track’s return, again provided Massa with a point for his first podium. And for a Brazilian now racing a Williams-Mercedes, ex-Ferrari man Massa is still a crowd favorite in Monza, so banking another podium there was a welcome result.

If there was a demerit to his season, it was that it was a rough final few events for him. From Singapore through Abu Dhabi, Massa only had one top-five finish and an awkward disqualification from his home Grand Prix. It felt a damp squib of an ending to the season where Massa was usually consistent enough to bank solid points. Like Kimi Raikkonen, we don’t know yet if 2016 will be his final season in F1, but you’d like to see him close strong.

In his first exclusive column for Motorsport.com, Felipe Massa discusses the Chinese Grand Prix, including the now famous dinner with the other drivers and his battle with Lewis Hamilton in the race.

There is something very special that gives the Chinese Grand Prix a unique identity for me. Every time I come to Shanghai, before I even think about the track or the commitments of the weekend, there is a special tradition I have to take part in: meeting my fans.

I know some of them already and every year they wait for me in front of my hotel – sometimes for an entire day beforehand – awaiting my arrival.

In a lot of other countries, the ritual ends with a handshake, an autograph or a selfie. But in China, no.
There are gifts. And we are speaking about fans who know my life...sometimes better than me! They know the names of my friends and my family. This year I received gifts not only for myself but also for my son and for my niece.

It's really amazing to think of the enthusiasm that these fans give me. I'm thousands of kilometres away from home, so to be able to find people who value you in a warm and polite manner gives you a great feeling.

Drivers' dinner

In Shanghai there was also a very nice dinner that was organised between all the drivers. It may seem strange to say it, but in the end – while we have shared the same paddock for years – we do not really know each other that well.

When you climb into the car, everyone just thinks for themselves, and I am the first to want to overtake all my opponents and make my way to the front of the field.

But when you take off your helmet, we are still a bunch of good guys who share the same world, the same problems and the same goals.

That's why the Shanghai dinner was a nice chance for us to get together in a different context and tell stories that were not necessarily related to what we do on the track.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and cheerful, and I think that many of us returned to sleep in our hotel rooms with a very good feeling.

I am convinced that get-togethers like this are very useful, and I hope with pleasure that we can have things like this much more frequently.

The fight with Hamilton

After the dinner my thoughts returned to the battle on track, and on this front my Chinese Grand Prix was very positive.

In the final stages of the race I had to defend hard my sixth place from an attack from Lewis Hamilton, and it was tough.

We had the same tyres (he had changed one lap earlier than me) so on that front we were evenly matched. And while he had a problem with car damage, we must remember that it is still a Mercedes.
In the end, I managed to control the situation, and I think that was mostly down to the way I was able to manage the tyres.

My driving lines were very different in the race, because if I had used the same ones I did in qualifying then after a few laps my tyres would have been finished, especially the front ones.

I also made sure that I only went hard on the accelerator out of corners when the car was perfectly straight, and this technique worked really well.

I think for this race, that is what the difference was between myself and Valtteri Bottas, whose pace over the longer runs was not as good.

It also confirmed a lot of the information that I had provided to the team after the winter tests. It is always nice to be able to produce a result that comes after working with the engineers: as it becomes a bit of a prize that helps strengthen relationships inside the team.

Third best team

The sixth-place finish allowed me to leave Shanghai occupying the same position in the drivers' championship, and I think that is a positive assessment after three races.

Many people have asked me if I expected something more from the start of this season, but when you start any campaign all drivers have high expectations, hoping even for something that is greater than logic would tell you.

As a whole, I think Williams has made a good step forward compared to the end of 2015, but we cannot forget that our opponents have worked hard too.

At the end of last year we were fighting with Red Bull for the position of the third best team, and I still think today we are in the same situation.

We saw in Bahrain and Shanghai that Red Bull has improved a lot in terms of top speed, and I can only deduce that it has made some steps forward with its power unit.

Confirmation of that will come from Sochi, where there are some long straights, but I think we have a chance to play.

Brazilian Felipe Massa is not afraid that Jenson Button could replace him at Williams next year with the British team interested in a romantic move for the 2009 world champion.

Felipe Massa driving the Williams in Monaco
Button, who began his Formula One career at Williams in 2000, is out of contract with McLaren at the end of the year.

And with Stoffel Vandoorne, the highly-rated McLaren reserve driver - who deputised for Fernando Alonso in Bahrain earlier this year - waiting in the wings, Button may be without a seat for 2017.

Button began his career with Williams as a 20-year-old, and a move back to the Grove-based team for one final hurrah could be seen as the perfect bookend to his world championship-winning career.

But asked if speculation linking Button to Williams was unsettling, a defiant Massa said: "For sure not. We all know about rumours in Formula One, and to be honest I am zero scared and worried about anything.

"I am really happy working for Williams - this is a team which gives me a lot of pleasure to work for - and I see the same with them working for me.

"It would be nice to stay, but it would be nice to stay in a team where you really see that you can do a good job and have a good future. I am ready for everything to be honest."

Massa, the only driver to finish in the top 10 at every race this season, joined Williams in 2014 after a long association with Ferrari which saw him miss out on the title to Lewis Hamilton by just one point in 2008.

And the 35-year-old, hinting at moves to the popular World Endurance Championship or FIA's electric series Formula E, says he would only remain in Formula One if he is competing at the sharp end of the grid.

"I want to be doing Formula One when I have a team that I really feel happy to work with, and a team that can be competitive," Massa added.

"If I am working in a team that I know will be at the back, I will decide to stop and do a different thing.

"I like WEC and maybe even Formula E. It is a series that is growing, and maybe in two or three years it will be completely different and more enthusiastic for the drivers in terms of the cars."

A move to Williams is likely to see Button team up with Valtteri Bottas. The 26-year-old Finn was heavily linked with a move to Ferrari for 2016 before the Italian constructor opted to re-sign Kimi Raikkonen for a further season.

"I have been at Williams for a long time and I would like to stay, but it is way too early to say if I am going to be here next year or not," Bottas said.

"I want to win, which is the same for the team. We are working hard for that and I really hope we can do it together, but only time will tell if it is possible or not."