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Sports

Massa signs with Williams F1 team for 2014 season

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Felipe Massa will replace Pastor Maldonado at Williams for the 2014 Formula One season.

Williams revealed its driver lineup for next year on Monday. Massa will drive alongside Valtteri Bottas, who is in his first season with the team.

Massa, 32, is in his eighth year with Ferrari. Two months ago, the Brazilian posted on his official Twitter page and Instagram that he was leaving the Italian team at season's end. It came one day before Ferrari announced that Kimi Raikkonen will rejoin the team and pair with Fernando Alonso next year.

Rubens Barrichello, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Bruno Senna are those Brazilians who have driven for Williams in the past.

"Williams is one of the most successful and important teams of all time in Formula One," Massa said in a statement. "When I was a kid, I always dream about racing for Williams, Ferrari or McLaren, and I'm glad to be signing with another icon of the sport following my time with Ferrari. It's also nice to remember that some of the best Brazilian drivers raced for Williams and cemented a strong national link with the team."

Prior to joining Ferrari in 2006, Massa drove for Sauber in his first three F1 seasons. He has scored 11 victories and made 36 podium appearances in 189 career grand prix starts.

Massa finished only one point behind Lewis Hamilton for the 2008 F1 world championship. His 2009 season was curtailed when he suffered multiple head injuries during a high-speed qualifying crash in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Massa scored six victories during the '08 season but has not won a grand prix since then.

"I'm highly motivated to start working hard from the very beginning in what is an exciting new challenge in my career," Massa added.

Massa has scored 106 points this year. He finished a season-best third in the May 12 Spanish Grand Prix.

After joining Williams as the team's test driver in 2010, Bottas was promoted to a race seat for the start of this season. He impressed the team in the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this year when he qualified third.

"We are delighted to be able to confirm our 2014 driver lineup and welcome Felipe into the Williams family," team principal Frank Williams said. "He is an exceptional talent and a real fighter on the racetrack. He also brings a wealth of experience, as we begin a new chapter in our story.

"Valtteri is a valued member of the team, and I'm pleased he was able to demonstrate his talent in tricky conditions in Montreal. There is much more to come from him."

Maldonado has driven for Williams since the start of the 2011 season. He recorded his maiden pole and grand prix victory in last year's Spanish GP, becoming the first Venezuelan driver to win a F1 race. Maldonado has scored only one point this year with a 10th-place finish in the July 28 Hungarian GP.