Felipe Massa has confirmed he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season.
The Williams driver first retired a year ago only to return to the team when Valtteri Bottas left to join Mercedes following the shock retirement of F1 world champion Nico Rosberg.
But with Williams lining up replacements for the veteran for 2018, Massa’s final F1 races will be his home race in Brazil next week and the season finale in Abu Dhabi on November 26. Williams say they will announce Massa’s replacement in “due course”.
Robert Kubica and Paul di Resta are the favourites to succeed Massa although Mercedes, who supply Williams with engines, are keen on placing Pascal Wehrlein alongside Lance Stroll next season.
The Canadian youngster has narrowly out-scored Massa this term but generally been out-qualified by the 36-year-old in what has been a disappointing season for the former world champions.
Massa had said he was keen to stay on at Williams into a fifth season but the team had been considered unlikely to retain him, particularly once they tested Kubica and Di Resta in 2014 cars last month.
“As everyone knows, after announcing my retirement from Formula 1 last year, I agreed to return this season to help Williams when the call came,” said Massa in a team statement.
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