Felipe Massa To Retire. Jenson Button To Take A Sabbatical.

Felipe Massa, Williams, AGP. (C)

    The long and distinguished Formula One career of Brazilian Felipe Massa is set to come to a close after this year's season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Felipe Massa is about to achieve what not all F1 drivers are able to achieve. That is, retire on his own terms.
    After bursting onto the scene with Sauber in 2002, Massa then spent a year as test driver under Ferrari's best ever driver's tutelage, Michael Schumacher, only to return to Sauber for 2004-05. 2006-13 saw Massa complete a lengthy stint at F1's grandee team, Ferrari, before joining Williams in 2014, to which he remains to this day. An errant suspension spring striking him in the head from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn not only threatened to prematurely end Massa's career, but very nearly cost him his life at the Hungarian GP in 2009.
    To date Felipe Massa has acquired 11 wins and 41 podiums. Undoubtedly, Massa's finest moment came at his home event in 2008. For a fleeting moment he held the driver's championship after passing the chequered flag first, only to be denied seconds later by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. It was the dignified way in which he conducted himself on the Interlagos podium however, that not only endeared him to his adoring Brazilian fans, but won him fans worldwide. Can you imagine the party and emotion if Williams can propel Felipe onto the podium at his final Brazilian Grand Prix?


   
    

---

Jenson Button, McLaren, AGP. (C)

    ​ British Formula One driver Jenson Button is taking a sabbatical in 2017. He has announced that he is taking up an ambassadorial role for McLaren for 2 years with an option to race again in 2018. 17 years in F1 started as a 20 year old with Williams in 2000. Stints with Benetton, Renault, BAR, Honda and Brawn finally saw him wind up at McLaren in 2010. To date he's garnered 15 wins and 50 podiums. 
    Button seemed set to be without a F1 drive after the demise of Honda at the end of 2008. A last minute management buyout morphing Honda into Brawn threw Jenson a lifeline for the 2009 season, and boy, did it pay dividends. The Brawn team interpreted the new technical regulations to their potential, which translated to 6 wins out of the first 7 races. While the rest of the teams played catch up, they managed to consistently score points, thus netting both the constructors championship for Brawn with Button declared driver's champion.
    Jenson Button has stated with authority that he is not retiring from F1. Is there more to the story though? Are McLaren hedging their bets and covering all bases? With the current GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne waiting to take Button's seat, have they managed to keep Jenson on ice in case the highly rated Vandoorne doesn't measure up? There could be another scenario though. Could McLaren be keeping Button on the books for another reason? The technical regulations are undergoing a major overhaul for 2017. Could Button step back into racing if double world champ Fernando Alonso decides to walk away from F1 if McLaren produce a lacklustre car for 2017?    

---