Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas have been retained by Williams Martini Racing for the 2015 season, it has been announced.
Massa joined the Grove-based outfit at the start of the year, while Bottas has been part of Williams since 2010. He was the team's test driver for three years before being promoted to a race seat in 2013.
It was a tough but quietly impressive first campaign at Williams for Bottas, scoring four points with the disastrous FW35. He proved to be a very strong match for his team-mate Pastor Maldonado, often beating the Venezuelan.
He has been one of the stars of the 2014 season so far, scoring four podium finishes and seven further top 10 results for the much-improved team. The Finn is currently fifth in the drivers' standings.
Massa has settled in extremely well at Williams. However, he has suffered some bad luck and made a few costly errors. The Brazilian scored his first podium of the year at the Italian Grand Prix, just a few hours after the announcement was made.
Founder and team principal Frank Williams said on the news: "I’m delighted to confirm that Felipe and Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again in 2015. Felipe is a pleasure to work with and combines raw pace with a wealth of experience.
"We have known for many years that Valtteri is a very special talent and in the FW36 we have given him a car that is allowing him to demonstrate his skills. The team is having a much improved 2014 season and the skill of our drivers and their feedback to our engineers has proved crucial in this.
"This announcement gives us excellent stability for 2015, but of course we are very much focusing our attention on maximising the full potential of the FW36 in the remaining seven races of this season."
Bottas also commented: "I’ve been a member of the Williams team for five years now and we have developed together throughout that time which is a great feeling. The team has also made some very impressive gains this season and I’m confident that I’m at a team that is moving in the right direction and can continue to be competitive.
"Sir Frank and Claire have put a lot of faith in me and I’m very grateful that they continue to do so. Felipe and I have a good working relationship and this early announcement will help us both input into the ongoing development of the FW36 and the FW37."
Massa said: "I’m really enjoying my time at Williams Martini Racing and I feel settled here. Williams is such an iconic name in motor racing and I have a lot of pride when racing for this team.
"This season we have started to show our true potential and I’m driving a car that is looking strong and has improved a lot as the season has progressed which is very encouraging for the future.
"It’s important that we continue to push in the second half of the season and that we start 2015 with some really good momentum that we can build on."
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It was a tough but quietly impressive first campaign at Williams for Bottas, scoring four points with the disastrous FW35. He proved to be a very strong match for his team-mate Pastor Maldonado, often beating the Venezuelan.
He has been one of the stars of the 2014 season so far, scoring four podium finishes and seven further top 10 results for the much-improved team. The Finn is currently fifth in the drivers' standings.
Massa has settled in extremely well at Williams. However, he has suffered some bad luck and made a few costly errors. The Brazilian scored his first podium of the year at the Italian Grand Prix, just a few hours after the announcement was made.
Founder and team principal Frank Williams said on the news: "I’m delighted to confirm that Felipe and Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again in 2015. Felipe is a pleasure to work with and combines raw pace with a wealth of experience.
"We have known for many years that Valtteri is a very special talent and in the FW36 we have given him a car that is allowing him to demonstrate his skills. The team is having a much improved 2014 season and the skill of our drivers and their feedback to our engineers has proved crucial in this.
"This announcement gives us excellent stability for 2015, but of course we are very much focusing our attention on maximising the full potential of the FW36 in the remaining seven races of this season."
Bottas also commented: "I’ve been a member of the Williams team for five years now and we have developed together throughout that time which is a great feeling. The team has also made some very impressive gains this season and I’m confident that I’m at a team that is moving in the right direction and can continue to be competitive.
"Sir Frank and Claire have put a lot of faith in me and I’m very grateful that they continue to do so. Felipe and I have a good working relationship and this early announcement will help us both input into the ongoing development of the FW36 and the FW37."
Massa said: "I’m really enjoying my time at Williams Martini Racing and I feel settled here. Williams is such an iconic name in motor racing and I have a lot of pride when racing for this team.
"This season we have started to show our true potential and I’m driving a car that is looking strong and has improved a lot as the season has progressed which is very encouraging for the future.
"It’s important that we continue to push in the second half of the season and that we start 2015 with some really good momentum that we can build on."
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