Sunday: Massa and Williams Thrill the Tifosi at Monza!
The Italian Grand Prix in F1 was nearly perfect for Williams: Felipe Massa reached the podium behind the Mercedes relatively peacefully while Valtteri Bottas, forced into an offensive race, secured a well-deserved 4th place.
Felipe Massa (No. 19) – 3rd
First podium of the season and 37th in his career for Felipe Massa, who could not dream of anything better than the acclamation from the tifosi for his return to the podium: « It was a fantastic race for me, so I’m really happy. I got a good start and passed Magnussen at just the right moment. I had to work hard to establish this position, unfortunately the Mercedes were a bit too fast, so we did our best. Monza is a special podium, and hearing all the fans chant my name was fantastic. »
Valtteri Bottas (No. 77) – 4th
Due to a very poor start, the Finnish driver’s race was more spectacular than expected: « I had some issues at the start which really affected my race. Once the tires warmed up, I had a lot of work to do. It was fun to overtake so many people and we had a good pace as well. As for the team, we really had a good day, and it’s nice to pass Ferrari. I’m happy to see Felipe get his first podium of the season, hopefully, we can be there together soon. »