Felipe Massa's Italian Grand Prix Podium Comes at the Perfect Time for Williams

On Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa made it onto the podium for the first time since early last season, in Spain.

It was an important result for the veteran Brazilian, as he has overcome plenty of challenges this year, including scary accidents in Canada and Germany. Massa's third place—combined with fourth for his teammate, Valtteri Bottas—was even more important for their team, though.

Last week, the Williams group of companies, which includes the Formula One team, announced a loss of £17.1 million over the first six months of 2014. The loss was due in part to significant investments in the racing team, which have already borne results on the track.

In a press release, team principal Frank Williams said, "Our long-term financial prosperity will of course always be a reflection, both directly and indirectly, of our Formula One performance. The impressive upturn in our performance this season is validating our approach."

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Williams are currently battling Ferrari for third place in the Constructors' Championship. The difference between third and fourth in the standings could be worth approximately £6.5 million in prize money alone, which would take a big chunk out of Williams' financial losses.

The Grove-based team trailed Ferrari by 10 points going into Sunday's race at Monza. But with Massa and Bottas' strong showings (only the championship-leading Mercedes duo beat them) and Fernando Alonso's first retirement in a season-and-a-half, Williams now have a 15-point lead. They have not finished in the top three since 2003, during their partnership with BMW.

The Italian three-four finish also matched Williams' best race of the season—they had the same result in Austria, but with Bottas on top—but it was not unexpected. The team had long been targeting the high-speed Spa and Monza as circuits that would suit their efficient aerodynamic package and powerful Mercedes engine.

After the race, Rob Smedley, the team's head of performance engineering (and Massa's former race engineer) said, "We finished where we should have," per a team press release.

That Massa beat Bottas is slightly more surprising, though. The 25-year-old Finn, a superstar in the making, had been on the podium at four of the last five races before Italy, including a pair of second-place finishes at the British and German Grands Prix. Massa, meanwhile, has never regained his race-winning form following a freak accident in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Still, there have been flashes of brilliance from the Brazilian, including a pole position earlier this year in Austria—the only one this season not taken by one of the Mercedes drivers.

The decisive moment of Massa's race at Monza—his Lap 5 pass of McLaren's Kevin Magnussen—was another of those moments. Massa made a clean start, while several cars around him (including Bottas and Lewis Hamilton) were slow off the line. After the first corner, he trailed only Nico Rosberg and Magnussen. Those positions remained unchanged until the fifth lap.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Then, with Hamilton harassing him from behind, Massa tried to pass the McLaren around the outside at the first chicane. He did not quite make it, but got good traction out of the corner and flew past Magnussen as they came out of the Curva Grande at over 300 kph—no DRS required.

From that point, aside from some shuffling during the pit stops, Massa remained in third and was unchallenged for the rest of the race. In the post-race press conference, while acknowledging how happy he was for himself, Massa said, "It’s really good for the whole team and we will keep fighting until the last race and I hope really we can get this third place in the Constructors’ Championship. It would be fantastic for the whole team."

The battle for third had already been on Massa's mind earlier in the weekend. "It feels like a big fight with Ferrari," he said after qualifying fourth on Saturday, per ESPN F1. "It's clear and we know how important it is—with a team like Williams that's growing—that we get better and better prepared for next year as well and how important one position is for the budget."

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

With six races remaining, 15 points is a relatively insignificant lead. And Ferrari's massive budget will ensure that no expense is spared in catching Williams. On Sunday, per a team press release, team principal Marco Mattiacci said that, "while it’s impossible to accept a result like this, now our only thought is to get back to being competitive as soon as possible." 

The next circuits—Singapore, Japan and Russia—may not favour Williams to the same degree that Spa and Monza did, but the British team now has the clear initiative. Since Austria, Williams have outscored Ferrari 119 to 75.

After being relegated to a supporting role behind Fernando Alonso for the last four years at Ferrari, you can bet there is not much Massa would enjoy more than beating his former employer. Right now, it looks as though Williams have a car—and a driver pairing—capable of just that.

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