LONDON • Felipe Massa has reportedly agreed to come out of retirement to rejoin Williams next season, if Valtteri Bottas departs to replace the retired Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.
The 35-year-old Brazilian had announced his retirement in September, bringing the curtain down on his 14 years in Formula One at the end of the 2016 season, but now seems set for a U-turn.
Williams hinted last week that they could let the Finn join Mercedes for the new season if they could tempt Massa back.
Reports in Italy, Brazil and Britain on Tuesday claimed that Massa has indeed been persuaded to reverse his retirement decision, with the matter now dependent on Bottas' next move.
Mercedes have had one offer for the 27-year-old Finn turned down as they search for a replacement for the reigning world champion.
Bottas, who has been at Williams since 2013, is the favourite to become three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's new team-mate.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is also involved in the Finn's management.
Yesterday, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo also ruled out joining Mercedes, saying he is happy at Red Bull. The 27-year-old finished third in the drivers' championship behind Rosberg and Hamilton.
"I've got two more years at Red Bull. That's where I'm going to be," he told reporters in Perth, his home town.
Rosberg, 31, shocked the sport when he decided to retire just five days after being crowned champion.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda insisted his team have yet to make a decision on Rosberg's replacement and said they may wait until the end of next month before making an announcement.
Meanwhile, Williams have announced that their chief technical officer, Pat Symonds, will step down from his role on Dec 31 - with speculation that Paddy Lowe of Mercedes is set to fill the void.
Symonds, 63, who worked with the late Brazilian great Ayrton Senna at Toleman in the 1980s and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher at Benetton in the 1990s, joined Williams in 2013.
"Pat's appointment was the start of a major restructuring exercise, and he has been pivotal in reshaping Williams into what is a much stronger racing team today," Williams said. "We now look to the future and will be announcing details regarding the team's technical leadership in due course."
Symonds left Formula One in 2009 when his then employers Renault were embroiled in a race-fixing scandal after it emerged that they had ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
The Briton returned as a consultant in 2011 with Virgin Racing, now Manor.
His departure from Williams means the former world champions, who finished fifth this year, will start the year with several new faces.
Canadian Lance Stroll, still just 18, will be making his race debut.
THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
