Rob Smedley’s name is synonymous with that of retiring Felipe Massa, the two working together at Ferrari for several years before both moving to Williams, thus it is no surprise as the Brazilian says goodbye to F1 so does his long time engineer and friend.
But 42 year old Smedley insists, “My decision has nothing to do with the choice Felipe is making. I have been traveling the world now for 20 years, from and to every race, and that’s quite a long time. For that reason I think I’ll be putting the brakes on for two or three years.”
“From a professional point of view it is, of course, necessary to go to every race. But on the other hand, I miss my family.”
“And I’ll still be a part of F1 and Williams. I made a commitment to help them with the rebuilding toward new success, but that doesn’t mean I have to be at every single race.”
Smedley has been aware Massa’s decision since last season and fully understands that the Brazilian’s time is up at the pinnacle of the sport.
“I’m happy that Felipe doesn’t ascend down the order and gets demoted from one backmarker to another. And even when I love him very much, I think his family supports his decision. His mom and dad and his wife are very good people who’ll enjoy Felipe more now, as a son, a husband, a father. I have to say I knew about his decision for a longer time then most…” added Smedley.
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