Claire Williams said ahead of Valtteri Bottas’ move to the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team from her Williams Martini Racing outfit that any deal would have to be financially viable, and Toto Wolff has revealed that some financial contribution has been made to Williams to soften the deal.
Bottas moved to Mercedes in place of Nico Rosberg, who retired when he clinched the World Championship at the end 2016, and Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Wolff has revealed that in order to get Bottas on board, some help was provided to Williams in order to bring Felipe Massa back into the team, with the veteran Brazilian postponing his retirement to partner Canadian rookie Lance Stroll.
“Obviously we couldn’t make requests without giving anything in return,” said Wolff to the Gazzetta dello Sport. “Claire Williams is a really capable businesswoman – like her father Frank. But we didn’t only speak about business.
” For example, Williams needed a driver with experience, and it was necessary to get Massa to return. So now we are all satisfied – and obviously we have financially contributed to the return of Felipe.”
