Brazilian driver Felipe Massa has revealed that he will no longer be racing for Monegasque E-Grand Prix team Venturi Racing, in a move that surprised many.
The Formula E driver made the announcement just minutes after the final race of the season in Berlin. The official word was sent out by Venturi before the winner of the race, Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne, even had a chance to mount the podium to accept his win.
39-year-old Massa leaves the team a full year before the end of his three-year contract, finishing 16^th in his last race and 22^nd overall for the season.
“Leaving a team is never an easy decision to make,” Massa told motorsport.com. “We’ve made some good memories together and it’s given me the opportunity to learn something completely different from what I’m used to, so first of all I want to thank [Venturi president] Gildo [Pastor] and [team principal] Susie [Wolff] for their faith in me.
“It’s been an honour to be part of the only motorsport team from the Principality and representing them on the podium at the Monaco E-Prix was a definite highlight for me. The past two seasons have been a big learning curve for us all and unfortunately, for various reasons, we haven’t quite achieved what we hoped.”
“Despite that, it’s been a lot of fun and I wish the team nothing but the very best of luck for the future. I look forward to announcing my future plans in due course.”
 
Photo by Venturi Racing