Posted on 4th September 2015
Williams have confirmed it will retain the services of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa for a third season in 2016. The team confirmed the news on Thursday morning via the drivers themselves, who made the announcement on a video posted to Twitter.
The announcement video can be seen here:-
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/639361184081121280
In an interview with the media this morning, Massa is delighted to be staying with the team for another season and is looking forward to building on what he has achieved with the team already. Massa stated the following:-
'I am very happy to be a part of the Williams family. I am in my second year here and am so pleased to be staying as we are working very well together as a team.
'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. I can't wait to carry on and continue pushing even more for the team, and for myself.
'Thank you to Frank, Claire, Mike, Pat and the whole Williams team for their ongoing support and belief in me, as we build on what is already a great relationship.'
From what Massa has stated to the media this morning he is very happy to continue working with the Williams team for another year. It is clear that both parties benefit from the relationship together and Massa wants to focus now on building upon this. Massa still has the speed and talent alongside his vast experience to help the Williams team more forward in the future and it is nice to see Felipe thanking the team for this opportunity to continue with the team for another team.
In his own interview with the media this morning, Bottas is also delighted to be staying with the Williams team for next season and is looking forward to another year where he believes that they will get stronger as a result of this. Bottas stated the following:-
'I am really pleased to be staying with the team for a fourth F1 race 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.
'I can't wait for 2016, however I am still fully focused on this season as we still have plenty of challenges to achieve. I must thank Frank, Claire, Mike, the Board, and everyone at Williams for their continued trust in me.'
Even though Bottas was courted by Ferrari and couldn't agree terms, he is happy to remain with Williams for next season and believes that they have everything at their disposal to build on what they have achieved together. Once again, it is nice to see Valtteri just like Felipe thanking the whole team for their support and allowing him to stay at the team and why wouldn't they? Bottas is just as talented as Massa and I believe he is a future world champion without a shadow of a doubt.
Sir Frank Williams, founder and team principal of the Williams Martini Racing Team, also in his interview with the media commented on retaining both drivers for 2016 as follows:-
'I'm delighted to confirm that Felipe and Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again next year. 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 line-ups on the grid puts Williams in a fantastic position to continue its momentum towards the front of the grid in 2016.'
As Williams says himself in his interview this morning; it is great news for him, the team and the drivers that they have retained their driver line up, even if Ferrari did try to get the services of Bottas recently. I would agree with him that stability is crucial to achieve success in F1 and they have managed to achieve that and have got two fast, experienced and capable drivers next year who can deliver; provided they have the car underneath them and that is Williams' job to ensure that this is the case.
But with the news that Bottas and Massa are to be retained by Williams for 2016; the driver market is starting to come to a close; with only a few seats remaining available. Who will be next to announce their future in the sport? Keep your eyes posted on the next few weeks.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
