Felipe Massa: 'Overtaking much harder in 2017'

Felipe Massa of Williams poses for a portrait during day one of F1 winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 1, 2016
© Getty Images
Felipe Massa says that overtaking will be harder for F1 drivers in 2017.

Felipe Massa has said that overtaking will be harder for Formula 1 drivers in 2017.

Having called off his retirement to return with Williams this year, the Brazilian impressed with the fastest time and an incredible 168 laps as the final Barcelona test began on Tuesday.

"Not bad for an old an ex-retired driver," he joked on Twitter.

It was Williams's overall pace that caught the attention of many on Tuesday, including Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, and F1 legend Alain Prost, who said that the sport should "take notice" of his former team.

Hamilton even said that he would like to see the Grove team join the battle with Mercedes, but Massa said: "I think we want this more than Lewis does!

"We will see. The Mercedes is incredibly fast and I doubt that we are on par. What I can say is that it was a very positive day and the people on the team are looking a lot happier than last week."

As for the F1 'show' this year, however, Massa is not so sure the sport will be as much fun for the spectators as it will be for the drivers.

After following the clearly less competitive Sauber for several laps on Tuesday without being able to pass, he said: "This is the new Formula 1.

"Overtaking is very difficult. I was 1.5 seconds faster than the Sauber but I could not pass.

"Behind me was [Renault's Nico] Hulkenberg, and he was faster than me but had no chance to overtake," Massa added.

"I think we will see less overtaking this year than in the last seasons."

The season gets under way with the Australian Grand Prix later this month.

Nico Rosberg of Germany and Mercedes GP leads Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP into the first corner during the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya on May 10, 2015
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1Mercedes765
2Red Bull460
3Ferrari398
4Force India173
5Williams-Mercedes138
6McLaren76
7Toro Rosso71
8Haas28
9Renault8
10Sauber2
11Manor1
DriversTeamPoints
1Nico RosbergMercedes385
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes380
3Daniel RicciardoRed Bull256
4Sebastian VettelFerrari212
5Max VerstappenRed Bull204
6Kimi RaikkonenFerrari186
7Sergio PerezForce India101
8Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes85
9Nico HulkenbergForce India72
10Fernando AlonsoMcLaren54
11Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes53
12Carlos SainzToro Rosso46
13Romain GrosjeanHaas28
14Daniil KvyatToro Rosso25
15Jenson ButtonMcLaren21
16Kevin MagnussenRenault7
17Felipe NasrSauber2
18Pascal WehrleinManor1
19Jolyon PalmerRenault1
20Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1
21Rio HaryantoManor0
22Esteban OconManor0
23Marcus EricssonSauber0
24Esteban GutierrezHaas0