How a rare third chance has led to a popular revival

Right now, Felipe Massa should have been enjoying his Formula 1 retirement. The plan was to race in another series, but the focus would be on enjoyment, away from the F1 pressure cooker, while spending more time with his family.

But then he got a call, shortly after he attended the Williams Christmas party. Valtteri Bottas was on his way to Mercedes and Williams wanted him back.

Massa didn't need long to think about it. "I've never heard anyone so happy and excited, so it was a big relief for us," says deputy team principal Claire Williams.

Williams loves Massa and the feeling is mutual. He has become part of what is a very close-knit family at Grove. And Williams genuinely believes Massa is still a very capable grand prix driver.

"We are never going to put a driver in the car who we don't believe can deliver," adds Williams. "So far, he's delivered."

There have been a couple of blips. In China, having qualified sixth, he dropped back at the start, then lost tyre temperature behind the safety car, which dropped him down the field, and from there he couldn't recover. In Spain, contact with Fernando Alonso at the start punctured a tyre and ended all hope of points. But the other four races have been strong, with Massa scoring points in each - including impressive drives to sixth in the Australian and Bahrain Grands Prix.

His tally of 20 points puts him ninth in the standings. But it's his outright speed that has stood out. Using the supertime method, which is based on the fastest individual lap set by each team on a weekend as a percentage of the overall quickest and then averaged out, Massa is seventh overall - excluding the anomaly of Jenson Button, who only completed one of the six races.

That places him as best-of-the-rest behind the three big teams - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - and also confirms that Massa is performing at a high level, rather than just being made to look good by rookie team-mate Lance Stroll's challenging start.

That's not bad for a driver who was unable to find a competitive seat for this season before retiring and then accepting a recall. Williams, understandably, is delighted.

"For him to come back and do what he's done, it's put a smile on my face and I think on a lot of people's faces," she says. "It's so wonderful seeing Felipe on form. He's delivered on every occasion. He's just enjoying himself. And we love him at this team."

So far, this season has echoes of the form Massa displayed when he got his second chance in F1 with Williams in 2014 after four difficult years at Ferrari.

The difference between Massa's results from 2006-09, when he claimed 11 wins and almost the world championship in '08, and 2010-13 - where he failed to secure a win - is stark.

Massa has always been defiant that his life-threatening accident during the 2009 Hungarian GP weekend has not impacted his form. But the complexity of the brain means it's not that simple with head injuries.

Even if that didn't impact Massa's confidence, there's no doubt Fernando Alonso's status as number one driver and the episode of the 2010 German GP, when he was instructed to move over for Alonso when leading, did.

"It was a bad thing to happen and it touches your confidence," Massa said when reflecting on that moment. "We are human beings and sometimes things happen that are too much." From that season on until the end of his time at Ferrari, Massa underperformed.

Ferrari still loved him, as was demonstrated by the guard of honour he received from the crew as he pulled out of the garage ahead of his final start at Interlagos with the team. But his and the team's belief that he could deliver with Alonso as his team-mate had gone.

Massa is an emotional driver, one who needs to feel the support of a team around him. That was no longer there and will have impacted his results.

It's no wonder, then, that when Williams originally opened talks at the Japanese GP in 2013, it didn't take Massa long to grab the opportunity. His mood changed instantly on joining. He was revelling in his new surroundings, visibly more relaxed after years being ground down in the shadow of Alonso. Massa had a team that believed in him, which wanted a team leader to guide it back to the glory years. Massa was excited again.

His first two seasons were a dream. He scored a pole position at the 2014 Austrian GP, stood on the podium five times across two seasons, and was instrumental in helping Williams take two consecutive third places in the constructors' championship.

That prompted Williams performance chief Rob Smedley, who Massa worked closely with at Ferrari, to insist Massa was performing above the level he was when challenging for the 2008 world title.

"He's as good as that now," said Smedley early last year. "He hasn't lost anything. He's better now because he's got more experience. In 2008 the tyres were so much better relatively, and the racing was different in that it was flat-out sprints. Over the last two years (2014-15) he's understood how to use the tyres much better.

"Valtteri is clearly a massive talent for the future and started to deliver, and all of a sudden you've got Felipe absolutely keeping him honest. They're absolutely at the same level. Felipe's always been that good, but I think he just finds it comfortable here.

"He's a person that needs respect, he needs to be valued, and he needs to be listened to. They are three fairly basic requirements, so the better question is not why we can get the best out of him but why other people couldn't?"

Last season proved to be much tougher. The relentless development that was a lynchpin of the success Williams achieved during 2014 and '15 could not be repeated in '16. The team was dragged back into a midfield battle, with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull clear and Force India and McLaren offering a sterner threat. Bottas was excelling too. Last year, he dominated the qualifying head-to-head 17-4, edged the race battle 9-7 and took Williams's only podium.

The uncertainty over Massa's future did not help, while the pressure at times got to him, which hurt his on-track form. The team wanted to shake-up its line-up and when it came to whether to keep Bottas or Massa, who were well-watched, Williams opted for youth and potential.

That Massa was the first one Williams called when Bottas was snapped up by Mercedes shows how highly it still rated him, although arguably the list of alternatives wasn't large, and how difficult the original decision to drop him was. Massa didn't want to retire. Those around him were urging him to stay. But the options for a competitive seat were non-existent.

Massa had an opportunity to bow out with dignity - and he took it. He had no intention of stopping racing and given his experience, he would have no problem finding a drive somewhere.

But he wanted to be in F1, feeling he had so much to give, particularly as the 2017 generation of cars suited his style. So when the opportunity of a very rare third chance in F1 was put on the table, of course he accepted.

It was a win-win scenario. Fail to deliver and Massa could bow out at the end of the season having helped a team that he regards as family when it needed him. Deliver strong results and push forward a team that was in danger of regressing and his stature would only be enhanced.

So far, Massa is achieving the latter. That infectious smile is back. He looks refreshed, relaxed and is enjoying F1 again. He looks like a driver reborn again, as he did in 2014.

"That's pretty impressive considering the car isn't perhaps as strong as it was in 2014," says Williams. "I don't know whether it's because he has come back after retiring and the pressure is off a little bit. I know he worked hard over the winter to get back into shape.

"The fact it is a whole new car and he's got 15 years of experience probably helps. He's on top form. I can't wait to see how he does for the rest of the year."

It also helps that this year's Williams is more competitive, Massa is relishing the chance to lead a team again and his experience is shining through.

Speaking about the challenges Massa's team-mate Stroll has encountered in his rookie year, Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe said: "One of things it has shown me is how easy it is to take for granted the base knowledge that we inherit through the experienced drivers.

"How much Felipe knows that we don't even know he knows that he deploys over time he gets in the car. That's been one of the more interesting things in running this programme with Lance."

Experience, the family atmosphere and a reinvigoration of his love for F1 have combined to turn things around and Massa is performing at a high level once again.

"I'm happy with the car, the way I'm driving, the way I'm feeling and the work I'm doing with the team," he says. "Everything is going really well."

Does he feel any different about F1 compared to when he decided to retire last year?

"I'm relaxed, there's no pressure and I'm just trying to enjoy it.

"I was doing the same last year, but I don't know, maybe things have changed for better and the way I feel and the way I'm working is quite relaxed and I'm sure I can do a really good job. I feel things are going well. I like this car, it's a lot closer to my driving style, what I prefer anyway."

Such has been his strong start to the season that he says he is considering extending his stay beyond the end of his contract, which runs until the end of 2017.

"If I have the opportunity to stay in the direction I am or the direction I think is correct for me, I'll stay," he says. "Otherwise no."

Admittedly, he said similar last year and ultimately decided to go - but the fact he is even considering staying shows how much he is enjoying F1 again and that he believes opportunities are out there. It's quite a story and one that Williams needs as it focuses on helping Stroll get up to speed.

After finishing ninth in Monaco, on a track Williams has underperformed on in the V6 era, Massa came on the radio and said: "Old boys don't do so bad, do they?"

Clearly, there's life in this "old boy" yet.