Jochen Mass

Ocon helped Force India to fourth place in the constructors' championship in 2017 as it defied its restricted resources and status as one of the least-funded teams on the grid.<br>Force India remained a regular best-of-the-rest contender in 2018 but fell into administration during the season and had to be reborn under new ownership as a fresh entity, now known as Racing Point.<br>Ocon has lost his ...

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A cross-weight problem - a weight imbalance across tyres - affected Hamilton’s car after some major extra work saw the water pumps on both W09s replaced as a precaution. Mercedes also had to deal with an increase in the prescribed Pirelli rear tyre pressures, and the team also closed up the ventilation holes in its rear wheels to avoid a possible post-race protest. All of those factors ...

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The Italian outfit pushed Mercedes hard for much of this year but a spate of errors from Sebastian Vettel and on the operational front have left it needing a miracle to get back in the hunt. Lewis Hamilton will be crowned champion in Austin on Sunday if he wins the race and Vettel is no higher than third. Massa, who drove for Ferrari from 2006 to 2013 and nearly won the championship in 2008 ...

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The Brazilian was invited to the Japanese Grand Prix to take part in an historic demonstration, putting in some laps with a 2006 F248 and a 2010 F10 which were both powered by V8s. It was the first time that Massa had driven an F1 car since he retired from the sport at the end of last season, and he says that while he preferred the lighter cars to current machinery, the older engines were not ...

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Last weekend, Toro Rosso's livery was much in evidence among local fans, despite the team's relatively low profile this season. Toro Rosso drivers Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly started sixth and seventh at Honda's home track, hinting at real potential, although ultimately both finished outside the points. "It's very encouraging," Marko told Motorsport.com. "We got so much welcome in ...

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Williams asked Massa to extend his F1 career by one more season so it could field the experienced Brazilian alongside incoming rookie Stroll, and the pair helped the team to fifth in the constructors’ championship. Massa was then replaced by Sergey Sirotkin for 2018, and Stroll downplayed the benefit of having a veteran driver alongside him the previous season. Stroll told Motorsport.com ... ...

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Of Gasly's three standout F1 results in 2018, the latest two were made possible by lengthy yet very competitive opening stints on the softest tyre. A mammoth 37-lap stint on the hypersoft, unmatched by anyone else in the race, helped Gasly to seventh in Monaco - while in Hungary he broke away from his midfield rivals during a 32-lap run on the ultrasoft, which ultimately enabled the Frenchman ... ...

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F1's calendar matched its all-time high of 21 grands prix this season, including an unpopular maiden triple-header.There have been suggestions the season could feature 22 or 23 in the near future, with new races targeted in the United States and Asia.Abiteboul told Motorsport.com: "We need to be able to engage with fans but is has to remain something special. We are already way above ...

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Massa said recently that he felt Williams' situation was being made more difficult because it had had to make finances a priority when it came to drivers, so couldn't afford high-paid superstars.But speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Stroll said he was baffled by his former team-mate's remarks – especially because he had showed strong form already last year."I don't und ...

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Williams has endured a tougher than expected start to 2018, and is the only team that has yet to score a point in the first three races of the campaign.Massa, who retired from F1 at the end of last season and was replaced by Sergey Sirotkin, believes the difficulties that Williams is facing can be traced back to it not having the kind of money that is enjoyed by the big manufacturer ...

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On the back of a star-making run to fourth place in Bahrain, Gasly qualified a lowly 17th for the Shanghai race.The Chinese circuit was not expected to suit the Honda-powered STR13 as well as Bahrain had, but Gasly's pace in particular suffered a noticeable decline between Friday and Saturday."We knew top 10 would be difficult, but [we expected to be] around P11, P12, and actually to ...

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After being drafted in at late notice to replace Mercedes-bound Valtteri Bottas alongside Stroll last year, Massa retired from grand prix racing for a second time at the end of the 2018 season.The Brazilian’s place has been taken by rookie Sergey Sirotkin for 2018, giving Williams one of the least experienced driver line-ups on the F1 grid.But, when asked whether he would miss having ...

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Hulkenberg left Force India at the end of 2016 to replace Kevin Magnussen at Renault, and outscored initial teammate Jolyon Palmer 34 points to eight before Palmer was dropped in favour of Carlos Sainz.Chester said Hulkenberg's main contribution had been to give Renault a dependable reference, and that Sainz had multiplied that effect."It is massively important. The really great ...

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Hamilton clinched his fourth world championship this year, fending off Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas 58 points adrift. Mercedes usually operates a policy of treating its drivers equally, but Massa, who was beaten to the 2008 title by Hamilton, believes the world champion team will focus on the Briton next year.“Next year the team is completely on ...

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Massa, who won 11 grands prix for Ferrari between 2006 and 2008, ended his 16-year spell in F1 with Williams in 2017.The Brazilian said this year's cars restored a challenge he felt had been the missing before the aerodynamic rule changes and move to more durable tyres."Definitely I will remember that it [the 2017 car] is nice to drive," Massa said."When you're just driving the car ...

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The Brazilian came out of retirement to race for the team for a fourth year in 2017 after Valtteri Bottas replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedes during the winter.Massa scored 43 points for the team and was in contention to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix before he suffered a technical problem.Lowe said Massa was consistent throughout the year, which in turn meant rookie Lance Stroll always ...

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The Frenchman scored points in 18 of the 20 races and finished just one place and 13 points adrift of Perez in the drivers standings.He was impressively consistent, scoring 43 points in the first 10 races and 44 in the second 10 races, having started the year with just nine F1 races of experience with Manor at the end of last year."It was a smooth transition but it's never easy to ...

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Massa announced his retirement for the second year in a row towards the end of the 2017 season, leaving a vacant seat alongside Lance Stroll at Williams.Robert Kubica appeared to be the leading contender for the drive, but following the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test, Russian Formula 2 racer Sergey Sirotkin emerged as the favourite to secure the position.Asked by Motorsport.com if he ...

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Massa was running third, having started ninth, when the race was red-flagged.When it resumed, Massa suffered the issue and was passed by eventual race winner Daniel Ricciardo before rapidly falling down the order and retiring.Several drivers claimed they could have won the race without issues but, following analysis, Williams chief technical officer Lowe believes Massa would have ...

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Massa enjoyed tussles with his former Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso in both events, earning seventh and 10 and taking his points tally for the season to 43.Smedley, who has worked with Massa for over a decade at Ferrari and subsequently Williams, insists that the Brazilian was at the top of his game until the very end."Look how he's finished, he's finished absolutely on a high," ...

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After the chequered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix I decided to do something a bit special – that isn’t really covered by the FIA rules. But after 15 years of Formula 1, I am sure I will be forgiven.Following the lap of honour, I went with my car to the start/finish straight with the two Mercedes drivers to celebrate with a spectacular burnout. I was delighted to receive the ...

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Massa can be seen with a green-coloured helmet to celebrate his final Formula 1 race. Designed by Jens Munser studio, the helmet has "2002-2017" inscribed, referring to the 16 years he spent in Formula 1.Having clinched his fourth title in Mexico, Hamilton has adopted a gold helmet for this weekend, while Fernando Alonso's running metallic colours on his helmet, which will glow bright

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The Williams driver, a veteran of 268 grand prix starts, will leave F1 at the end of the season but expects to continue racing in other series.Massa is also believed to have spoken to FIA president Jean Todt regarding using his expertise to assist the governing body.Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, Todt said he would be interested in working with Massa in the future and is ...

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I could not have asked for more at my last Brazilian Grand Prix. Emotionally, it was an intense weekend, but I experienced many positive feelings.On the sporting front too, I believe I played a big part in achieving the maximum possible result for both myself and the Williams Martini Racing team. We managed to finish the race behind the top three teams, and it was impossible to hope ...

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A number of Mercedes crew were subject to an armed robbery near the track on Friday night, with Williams and FIA personnel also coming face-to-face with gun-carrying criminals.On Saturday night, robbers tried to stop a minibus carrying Sauber team members, but the crew's driver was able to escape. ...

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