Felipe Massa mulling a return to F1 with Williams

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Felipe Massa agrees to rejoin Williams in retirement U-turn if Valtteri Bottas leaves to go to Mercedes. File Pic

Internet Desk: Felipe Massa is set to allow Valtteri Bottas to make his move to Mercedes by re-signing for Williams. It is understood that a deal has been agreed for Massa to make a U-turn on his decision to retire at the end of last season and return to Williams, assuming Bottas joins Mercedes.

The 35-year old Brazilian racer announced his retirement in last September and ended his 14 years long career in Formula One at the end of the 2016 campaign, but now it seems he could reverse his decision.

Williams hinted few days back that they could let Bottas join Mercedes in 2017 if they  could tempt Massa back for the next season.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams told BBC Sport, “If we did allow Valtteri to leave, we would only do this if an experienced, credible alternative was available, such as someone like Felipe Massa, for example.”

Mercedes told the media on Tuesday that they will wait till end of January 2017 before announcing Nico Rosberg’s replacement. Non-executive Niki Lauda admitted they are yet to make any decision on who will take over the F1 world champion’s seat.

Nico Rosberg, shocked the sport world when he decided to retire just five days after being crowned champion and it remains to be seen who will fill the German’s boots to team up with Lewis Hamilton for the upcoming season.

Drivers like Fernando Alonso, Pascal Wehrlein and Bottas are all in contention with the drive, but Lauda says no decision has yet been made.

“We are still making up our minds,” said Lauda. “That is a huge discussion, really. It can take until the end of January until we know which route we are going to take.

“We had hoped for a faster solution, but the discussions prove to be difficult. There are two scenarios – we take a young gun like Wehrlein who could turn out to be a Max Verstappen, or he couldn’t. Or we take an experienced guy.”