Williams talks was hidden from manager by Massa

Valteri Bottas Williams FW36 Jerez F1 winter testing

Felipe Massa kept his talks with Williams last year secret even from his own manager.

The former Ferrari driver said that when he initially made contact with the British team, Williams asked him not to involve his manager Nicolas Todt.

That is because Todt, the son of FIA president Jean Todt, doubles as Pastor Maldonado's manager, whose Williams split - and that of his lucrative sponsor PDVSA - was already in full swing.

"Williams preferred to speak directly with me, because Nicolas was already dealing with the departure of Maldonado, who did not want to continue," Massa is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.

"I started talking by myself from the race in Japan and we agreed very quickly. But it all depended on the departure of Pastor and so it took a while (to finalise)," he added.

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Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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