I love to work for Williams. It is natural that the team is always looking for the best Felipe Massa

Q: Felipe, it is an open secret that there is a vacant cockpit at Williams for 2017 as your contract terminates at the end of this season. Is it your aim to stay? Felipe Massa: Yes! I love to work for Williams - it’s a nice team. I have this team inside my heart - and there it always will be, so I think we need a little bit more time to understand what happens - actually what is going to happen in 2017. Of course I am also talking with some other teams - and to myself as well! (Laughs) And probably there I will find the right answer! I am sure that I will have found an answer not too long from now. Q: How does it go down with you that [deputy team principal] Claire Williams has openly spoken about Jenson Button and Sergio Perez’s credentials in terms of possible candidates for a drive? FM: Well, that is not really something of significance - and for sure no big news for me. It is natural that the team is always looking for the best - or what they believe is the best under certain circumstances. Jenson is a great driver and Sergio has shown that he has developed into a great driver as well. So I would sum up the current situation as business as usual if a team has a cockpit to fill. This is customary in this sport - so absolutely nothing to worry about and no ‘sting’ in the heart. Q: Should there suddenly be a ‘no vacancy’ sign at the Williams headquarters in Grove, what is Felipe Massa’s ‘Plan B’? FM: Ha, I cannot say. For sure I have some plans. But it would not be right for me to give hints right now. So I leave it for the moment and time will find the right answer. And that answer as I just said will come rather soon. Q: Is Formula One an option at all for you, then? You have been in the sport for so long - you have seen it all, done it all… FM: Let’s put it this way: I want to be in Formula One to matter! I am definitely not here to make up the numbers. I am here to give my talent and my work to achieve results. If I don’t have that I will look for different things. So everything is moving! (Laughs)

Believe me, a lot of teams will need experienced drivers next season Felipe Massa

Q: Could a swap of cockpits with Perez be an option? Or a return to Sauber, which might benefit from an experienced driver? FM: Believe me: a lot of teams will need experienced drivers next season. Drivers who already have the experience of the sort of cars that we will see in 2017 in their career. Q: Williams are currently P4 in the constructors’ standings - and that is a very respectable position when only Mercedes, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari are ahead. So why is there the feeling that it is a rather difficult season for the team? Do you have an explanation for that? FM: Yes, it is a very respectable result - at the last race in Abu Dhabi. For the moment we need to work massively to do better - which didn’t happen in July. July was a really negative month for us - and everything that happened to us in July we have to eliminate. We need to be able to control these three teams: Force India, Toro Rosso and McLaren. Keep them behind us. Q: In the last four races Williams have only bagged six points. Is that a sign that all efforts are already on 2017? FM: Yes, it is true that many cars on the grid have not changed for a couple of races - this is of course an indication that everybody has a firm eye already on 2017, and that includes us too. Probably we’ve stopped the 2016 development even earlier. And of course that doesn’t help for this year. So it’s always a bit tricky to have a target for the current season - but also for the future. So my guess is that the midfield fight will be very intense. Q: Will the team have enough strength to keep Force India behind? Is there anything planned for the car for the nine remaining races? FM: We’ve been working on the new car for more than two months, but of course we also do have little things to come - but very little. Q: So the drivers will have to make the difference then… FM: Yes, I hope so - in a positive way.

For the drivers 2017 will be much more interesting! Felipe Massa