Massa: Williams 'completely different' in 2017
ByAutoSport
Published 11/05/2017 at 14:53 GMT
The Williams Formula 1 team feels much more "connected" and "completely different" to recent years, which should help as it looks to develop its 2017 car, Felipe Massa believes.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Massa joined Williams from Ferrari in 2014, the year it finished third in the constructors' championship and arguably won F1's development race.
Updates in 2015 were not as successful, before the outfit struggled with correlation last year, then-chief technical officer Pat Symonds admitting "our development hasn't really worked".
But Williams has shown promising pace so far in 2017, Massa qualifying between sixth and eighth for each grand prix, and he believes it is better-placed this year.
"What I see in this team this year is completely different to what I saw in the last three years, in terms of the mentality for developing areas that we need to develop in," said Massa.
"I see the team in a much more connected way of working together, in so many different areas, including aerodynamics.
"I believe we can have much better development during the season.
"The mentality, the working is definitely completely different than what´s happened in the last three years.
"I really believe that the working now is a lot more correct, intelligent, and [there is] a very good connection."
Paddy Lowe has arrived from Mercedes to lead Williams's technical team, while ex-Ferrari man Dirk de Beer also started in March as head of aerodymamics.
Massa agrees the new recruits have made a significant contribution to changing how the team works.
"Something was missing," he said.
"It was not really connected, and I think now people are trying to improve so many different areas that were a problem.
"We're still at the beginning, so many things we need to do, but the working is much different."
This weekend's Spanish Grand Prix marks the unofficial start of the development race, and Massa feels the level of upgrades would have arrived later in recent years.
"It's quite a reasonable step, but you never know what the others are bringing," he said.
"But for sure what we´re bringing here, in the last years, maybe we´d bring after five months.
"It's definitely a completely different picture.
"For sure you have the new rules [for 2017], and with the rules we have now the car will improve a lot more from the first race to the last race.
"But I think it´s not just the rules, I think the working method is a lot better."
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