How Massa's move to Williams changes the world of F1

Felipe Massa has signed a “multi-year” deal with Williams, replacing Pastor Maldonado in a move that is likely to set in motion a sequence of events that should see the final pieces of the driver market puzzle fall into place. With Massa ousting Maldonado at the Grove-based squad, the Venezuelan and his lucrative backing in the form of bagfuls of petro-dollars from state-owned oil company PDVSA are now up for grabs, a situation which will most certainly have a ripple effect on the driver market and influence driver decisions at at least three teams. Maldonado’s most likely destination is believed to be Lotus. The team, who have struggled financially this season, want to replace Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen with current Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg but an agreement with the German hinges on the Enstone-based squad closing a long-delayed deal with a group of investors. [caption id=“attachment_1225807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Felipe Massa has signed a “multi-year” deal with Williams. Reuters[/caption] The deal, which will give the investors a 35 percent stake in the outfit, is apparently close to being finalised and the man heading the group, Mansoor Ijaz, told reporters at the last race in Abu Dhabi that the deal had been completed from the point of view of the investors and that he had asked the team to sign Hulkenberg. Lotus team-principal Eric Boullier told Autosport over that same weekend that he couldn’t comment on the deal yet but that he hoped to make an announcement in a couple of days following the Abu Dhabi race. However, there has been no word from Lotus and if the deal falls through, Maldonado’s PDVSA backing should be enough to get him a drive with the team. Maldonado’s other likely options are Sauber and Force India. Like Lotus, Sauber’s financial difficulties this season have been well documented and earlier this year the Hinwil-based squad struck a deal with a group of Russian investors who threw the outfit a financial lifeline. As part of that deal, Russian young gun Sergey Sirotkin has been confirmed at the team for next season but that confirmation is subject to the 18-year-old being ready for a full-time race drive. With question marks also hanging over Esteban Gutierrez’s future with the team and Hulkenberg keen to move on, there could be a potential vacancy for Maldonado at the Hinwil-based squad while the PDVSA money would be more than welcome. Force India, too, are yet to confirm their driver line-up for next season. The team, who have generally shied away from hiring pay drivers, are spoilt for choice with several drivers apart from Maldonado in the frame for a seat at the Silverstone-based squad, including current race drivers Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil as well as Hulkenberg. Meanwhile, there is also movement at McLaren. Sergio Perez is reportedly set to be dropped from the team after a disappointing season that has seen the Mexican score a little more than half the points of his team-mate Jenson Button. According to reports, the Woking-based squad are set to promote protégé Kevin Magnussen, who recently won the Formula Renault 3.5 title, to a full-time race drive in place of Perez. The team were initially unsure of promoting a rookie straight to a top team, given the limited testing opportunities these days compared to when Lewis Hamilton impressively debuted in a McLaren, and had been scouting around for another seat on the grid to slot him into so he could learn the ropes, but the Dane has showed an impressive turn of speed in the two tests he has participated in and is apparently faster than Perez in McLaren’s simulator. Unfortunately, the biggest loser in all of this chopping and changing could well be Hulkenberg, the impressive German possibly once again having to move aside for a pay driver, forced to bide his time yet again and wait to secure a drive his talent deserves. He was dropped by Williams at the end of 2010, despite an impressive campaign, ironically in favour of Pastor Maldonado and the PDVSA backing, while a deal to move to Ferrari fell through after the team chose to re-hire Raikkonen. The 26-year-old is dead against raising sponsorship and effectively buying a seat as he says he shouldn’t have to pay to do what he does best and it would be a real shame if Hulkenberg were to end up drawing the short straw yet again. But the situation is fluid and much depends on Lotus either closing that investment deal or the agreement falling through. Once that is out of the way, the dominoes will quickly start falling. The season may be winding down to its finish but expect a flurry of news in the next few days with the major protagonists working hurriedly behind the scenes to broker deals and sign agreements as the silly season hits full stride again.