Felipe Massa will make his return to motor racing in Formula E later this year.
The 11-time grand prix winner will join Venturi for the 2018-19 season.“For some years now, I’ve been clear about my interest in this innovative, forward-looking discipline that’s developing exponentially,” said Massa in a statement.
“I especially like the format of race meetings, the city-centre circuits and the contact with the fans. I can’t wait to take part in testing at the end of the month.”
Venturi team boss said it was an “honour” to have Massa at his team. “I needed him, his experience, his speed, and his openness. Formula E is extremely complex to set up and drive.
“Even more so than in other disciplines, teamwork between the driver and the engineering team is one of the keys to success. Felipe’s 15 years’ experience in Formula 1 will definitely give us a boost. And with his humble nature, I know he will listen to the team and master the discipline quickly.”
Venturi’s current drivers are Edoardo Mortara and Maro Engel. Mortara equalled the Monaco-based team’s best result to date last year in Hong Kong when he finished second.
Massa will join the championship as the new generation of Formula E cars is being introduced. These are more powerful than the first generation cars and will be able to complete race distances without the need for drivers to change cars mid-race.
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Joe
15th May 2018, 16:13
This is great news. I’ve really come to enjoy Formula E. I missed the noise at first, but no more. They really manhandle the cars around those street circuits. Can’t wait to see what Massa can do.
Postreader
15th May 2018, 18:16
It’s really entertaining to watch sometimes, isn’t it? But what you mention, unfortunately, comes from the relatively lower speeds enabling all those things. F1 cars handle often twice or thrice the momentum / kinetic force and the cars are (or at least look) more fragile with all those winglets and other add-ons.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
15th May 2018, 20:14
I too find Formula E interesting and enjoy watching, there are a few gimmicks that I just despise. The fanboost is by far the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in any serious sport. It makes the sport look like a carnival rather than high level professional Motorsports.
lee1
16th May 2018, 9:43
I agree. I really like Fomula E. The racing is often really good. However Fanboost needs to die just like DRS needs to die in F1.
BigJoe
16th May 2018, 9:56
What about the boost the drivers are getting from the computer software in the pits telling them how they need to be driving via the engineer/radio as the messenger.
Poor stewarding decisions and the comical inconsistency in F1 could never be matched by Fanboost either in terms of affecting outcome. Let’s put things into perspective and also remember ultimately the money to run these series comes from the fans spending their hard earned cash and more often than not they feel robbed.
BigJoe
16th May 2018, 9:48
I see Fanboost as a possible antidote to some of the awful stewarding decisions and laughable consistency we’ve seen in F1 over the years, that have even wrecked championships (Alonso/Kubica incident springs to mind) Fans could correct this if they don’t become as tribal as in F1.
The minor advantage a driver gets from fanboost is nowhere near the ‘Carnival’ of Indy Car where the same dive bomb move is punished and unpunished in the same race.
We had a good reminder of who ultimately keeps high level motorsport going at Barcelona with all those empty seats. Formula E’s idea was to have the fans feel more involved in what they’re paying for. If Formula E goes to the big circuits they are going to have to do even more to draw crowds who are diminishing across the board.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
15th May 2018, 16:30
As a big Massa fan, its excellent news to see Felipe returning in full time action(the appearance at Stockcar Brazil was one off ), especially in Fe, which is a very competitive series!
Although i would expect Felipe signing with Mahindra, Venturi can be pretty competitive as well!
PT (@pt)
15th May 2018, 20:27
Great you mentioned Mahindra, my home team. But the championship has almost slipped from them this season. They should have held on to it.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
16th May 2018, 7:58
@pt Yep, they should have been much higher, but some issues with Rosenqvist & a not so great season by Heidfeld, made them lose momentum
nase
16th May 2018, 9:41
@miltosgreekfan
Yeah, Heidelberg’s season has been shocking so far, even more if you compare him to Rosenqvist, who has been one of, if not the outstanding driver of the season. I wonder why. His form has been slipping ever since that first ePrix he came tantalisingly close to winning, but the current nosedive could spell the end of his career.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
16th May 2018, 11:00
@nase Perhaps its a age. Nick is 41 & the field is very very close altogether. He ia still much better than the likes of Nico Prost, but yeah he is not having a great time
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
16th May 2018, 4:51
@miltosgreekfan I really hope he finds a factory seat though. And Venturi has been playing ring-a-roses with their driver lineup for some time now, and it would be a shame to see Massa fall victim to that.
@pt Yeah, it looked for a moment as if Mahindra and Felix had a real shot at the title, but they bungled it, didn’t they? I’m not too optimistic about the next 4 races either, since Audi seems to have gotten back on top of things and JEV seems to be in incredible form.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
16th May 2018, 8:02
@sundark I dont think that they’ll try to replace Massa during a season.He is an extremely big name, he is serious in his job, so i reckon they will have a atable driver’s lineup
PT (@pt)
16th May 2018, 10:57
@miltosgreekfan, @sundark, @nase
Mahindra should pitch for the services of top drivers such as Buemi or di Grassi to partner Rosenqvist. Heidfeld needs to be shown the door. I hope the team shakes up its driver lineup (retaining Felix though) after ruining a potentially title-winning season. Even then, it’s an improvement over the previous years. But it could have been a lot better.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
16th May 2018, 11:02
@pt Thats why i thought Felipe would be ideal for Mahindra. Nick is having a bad year, he is 41 so he might be heading into retirement. It will be interesting to see which driver will choose to partner Rosenqvist(keep Heidfeld or someone new).
PT (@pt)
16th May 2018, 15:01
There’s no way Heidfeld should be there next season. He’s dragging Mahindra down. It’s time for him to retire.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
15th May 2018, 16:35
Great news! And good luck! And great to hear that Venturi is also a competitive team @miltosgreekfan
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
15th May 2018, 17:18
I reckon & i hope that they’ll do a step up next year.They have shown some good signs, but they have been in the lower ”tier” in their years. They have gotten occasional podiums, but they need to be get a bit more stable on their performance.
I hope they do a Williams 2014!
Sumedh
15th May 2018, 16:37
Great news. Good publicity for Formula E as well. Hope he can be competitive.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
15th May 2018, 16:59
This is great for FE. More retired F1 should race there and in WEC. It would give them much needed publicity, and young and upcoming drivers can race against the greats of yesterdays.
PT (@pt)
15th May 2018, 20:27
Hope Rosberg joins the party as a full time racer…
nase
16th May 2018, 9:53
I second that. The signing of race winner, vice world champion, ex-Ferrari and Williams driver and all-around good guy Massa could already help boost FE’s popularity. But a world champion, who brings along a sprinkle of controversy due to his clashes with Hamilton? That’d be invaluable.
Silfen (@silfen)
16th May 2018, 12:38
One or both of the current Venturi drivers will move to HWA next season imho, as they are both contracted to Mercedes and HWA is affiliated with Mercedes.
Sergey Martyn
16th May 2018, 14:05
I believe Massa will get the most fan boost.
Forza, Felipe!
THE TEDBELL
16th May 2018, 16:52
The new chassis will elevate Formula E to new heights for certain. Surely the fan base will grow from these needed changes that will come from the new chassis and long life batteries. Should be Vcool and l look forward to the next stage of E
Minardi (@gitanes)
17th May 2018, 4:18
Formula E qualifying I have to admit is pretty intense. But for the most part the races are too processional with ludicrously little room to pass, resulting in silly fender benders. I find myself underwhelmed this year for the most part.
Next year won’t have pit stops so I see it getting even worse.
I don’t expect much from Massa but hope he proves me wrong.