Not so long ago, Felipe Massa had been expected to watch the 2017 Formula 1 world championship on TV like the rest of us. Instead he's been recalled to active duty, and it looks like he's loving every minute!

The Williams driver had a strong run to sixth place in Bahrain last weekend. Afterwards he stayed in the region for a few days rest and recuperation with his family in Dubai. It certainly seems like they're getting into the spirit of things. They look very much the part in this family portrait, decked out in local attire.

There's not much time to take in the local flavour, however. Massa will be back in action again in a few days time, with free practice for the Russian Grand Prix starting on Friday.

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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