In what was the shortest retirement possibly in the history of the world, affable Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa found himself reporting for duty once again at the William's HQ in Oxford at the start of February.
When he trundled off on foot down the Interlagos pit lane, leaving his stricken William's lying in pieces in the middle of the pit entrance, nobody expected to ever see him as an active F1 driver again. It was a sad end to an emotional and successful career.
Then a few days later Nico retired. All of a sudden Valteri Bottas was the name highest on Toto's employable list and Claire Williams started panicking that she would have to rely on a fresh-faced 18 year old in the shape of Lance Stroll for glory. A quick look at the driver market showed that getting Massa back in case of Bottas leaving was the best choice in the circumstances.
Which really begs the question: Did Massa actually WANT to retire in the first place?
When a driver makes the decision to leave the F1 paddock for good it's usually because they've lost.....something. The hunger, the passion, their ability? Or it's because they want to gain something, maybe in the form of a settled family life, a new challenge or simply because they want to experience winning again, something that very few get to do in a car dominant sport.
In his "farewell" speech he made no mention of losing the love of driving, he simply said:
"I'm relieved and happy. You need to be strong enough to make decisions that are quite difficult."
Massa said he had decided "some months ago" to bring his career to an end, adding he was "very proud" to have achieved so much in his career - "more than I ever expected".
Looking at the scenario when Massa first decided to call it quits, it wouldn't be out of the question to suggest he had no choice. William's were going to keep Bottas as their number one and with Stroll's dad knocking on the door offering a wedge of much needed cash to the moderately funded Williams team it really would have left Massa nowhere to go.
It was a case of, "retire with dignity, or leave it to the team to announce their new line up and effectively cut him loose." He chose the first option and that was that, or so it seemed.
If Claire Williams really believed he had lost his passion or his driving mojo she surely wouldn't have considered him so she clearly knew the real reasons why he was unhappy and didn't hesitate to offer him the vacated seat.
For Felipe, It can't be easy to drive for so many years in the best cars winning races and almost the title (2008) to languishing around in the midfield hoping to pick up points, especially when you're no longer at least considered the number one driver in your team.
For me, I did believe that his performances last year certainly suggested that his skills had diminished behind the wheel. It's not always the case with older drivers who continue operating at a high level in the car but other factors determine their decision making. Look at Jenson Button, he walked away because he knew he couldn't win with the car he had, not because he thought his driving had peaked.
Now the 35 year old finds himself back in a strong position where he will undoubtedly be the team's main man going into a season full of unknowns, one in which Williams may be able to deliver a more competitive car than they've managed to produce in the last few. It's an exciting prospect.
He also has nothing to lose. If he comes back and doesn't perform they will still thank him for helping them and wish him all the best for his future (again). If he comes back and performs like the Massa of old then they will be justified in their re-hiring of him and the Brazilian will carry on being the most lovable and friendly driver in the paddock.
It was a no-brainer, only made possible by Massa feeling in his stomach that he still had the pure love for the sport. Once you've lost the love of what it is you've been doing all your life it's very difficult to re-motivate yourself, which is why I don't think he wanted to retire at all. It was announced that he was about to sign a deal to drive in Formula E before the comeback call was made - not the act of a driver feeling tired of being in the public eye.
When Stroll crashed the new William's multiple times over the winter test days in Barcelona it was left to Felipe to do the donkey work and use his experience to help the team understand the new package. He did the equivalent of three race distances in one day which is absolutely vital at this stage and as Rob Smedley put it, "he didn't put a wheel out of place the whole test." What's more, Williams look extremely impressive so far with pace and reliability.
Personally I still think we have seen the best of Massa but I would like nothing more than to witness his resurrection.
Imagine Filipino's face if he saw his dad on the top step of the podium once again,
Only time will tell.
Carl Ackerley
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