Massa open to move from Williams in 2017

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Felipe Massa has hinted he has other options to race in F1 outside of Williams in 2017 but is in no rush to decide his future.

The Brazilian joined Williams from Ferrari ahead of the 2014 season but his current contract expires at the end of this season. After three years with the same driver line-up, Williams is open to making changes - with Jenson Button linked with a seat - but Massa himself also appears willing to race elsewhere.

Speaking to F1i during an exclusive interview, when it was put to Massa his dream scenario would be to race in a competitive Williams car next year, he replied: “Or maybe if you have some more interesting opportunities…”

Asked what those interesting opportunities were, Massa said: “I don’t want to put names down because I don’t think that is really the right thing to do.

"But not a small team, so maybe teams like the ones I raced for but maybe also teams that are pushing to be better."

Massa has only previously race for Sauber and Ferrari in F1, and he insists he would not take an uncompetitive seat just to stay in the sport.

"I feel ready for everything. I feel ready to stay, I’m ready to do everything I can, I’m ready to enjoy myself. And if I don’t have a good opportunity I’m ready to find a new job in something different!

"So I’m not in a rush and we’ll decide in the right way for everything. So if I have a good opportunity, yes, this is what I like to do anyway. But I’m not here to be in the back of the field and just not enjoying myself. I’m not ready for that."

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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.