Williams F1 team is paying the price for taking a ‘money first’ view in making their decisions, says former F1 driver Felipe Massa.
The season start has been especially hard for the iconic British outfit, which has not scored a single point in the first three races.
Massa retired from the sport last year and was replaced by Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin.
The Brazilian believes money is one of the team’s biggest problems.
Williams recently announced they had a marginal increase in their profit for 2017 and admitted they are still way off in spending when compared to the big manufacturer’s works teams.
Since the team was working hard to get extra funding, they took in well-paying drivers like Lance Stroll and Sirotkin instead of well-paid top drivers.
“It’s true that the team was suffering from the financial situation and I think they made decisions for 2018 putting money first,” Massa told Motorsport.com last weekend at Rome Formula E race.
“But this is not enough to make a competitive championship.
“All I can say is that I came out with my head held high. I have a good relationship with everyone at Grove and I hope that the best for the team comes out as soon as possible.
“But I can add that I’m happy to have made my decision last year.”
When asked if thinks his retirement was well timed, he said: “Yes. I chose the right time and now I’m enjoying my life. I hope Williams can recover.”
Ferrari’s resurgence
Talking about Ferrari’s surprisingly good form, the Brazilian said: “To tell you the truth I didn’t expect it,”
“I expected Mercedes to be far ahead of Ferrari, and I think even Red Bull could be fighting them.
“On the other hand, what we saw in the first races, was great for the sport because we did not see just one team winning.
“I am happy that Ferrari has started well. In the Maranello team, they have made several changes in the last two years and many thought they were backwards.
“On the other hand, at the Cavallino, they have shown that they have a large group that knows how to work very well. This makes me happy because I’ve always been a Ferrari fan.”
Or would Williams be where they are now if Massa was still driving their car.