Not for the first time in his F1 career, Massa was told over the radio that his team-mate was “faster than you” which was a prompt for the Brazilian to move over for Valtteri Bottas.
However, unlike in his days with Ferrari as Fernando Alonso’s team-mate, this time Massa did not allow his team-mate to pass.
Instead the Brazilian raced Bottas to the finish line in Malaysia, finishing seventh to the Finn’s eighth.
In the immediate aftermath, Massa insisted he did the right thing both for his Championship and Williams’.
Now, having spoken to the team, the 32-year-old says Williams admitted to making a mistake and won’t be issuing any such orders in the future.
“I believe what has happened in the last race will not happen again,” he said ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. “It was not correct and not the right moment for this to happen.”
I can’t help wondering if Williams was influenced by fans.