Felipe Massa returned to the podium for the first time since Spain 2013 in Monza.
It was a special moment for the Brazilian who had spent 8 seasons racing for the home crowds passion, Ferrari.
Massa put in a solid drive from the second row of the grid to finish third behind the all conquering Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Rob Smedley, who was Massa’s race engineer at Ferrari and is now Head of Vehicle Performance at the Williams believes that the podium finish will be the first of many for Massa at Williams.
?I think he has done a great job really and what he needed to do was to get this first one ? once he gets this first one they will all start falling out of the jackpot machine, just like they did with Valtteri,? Smedley told Sky Sports.
Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas scored his first podium finish in Austria and the Finn soon returned to the podium with back-to-back second place finishes in Britain and Germany, whilst a fourth trip to the podium followed in Belgium.
Smedley continued: ?So really, really pleased for him [Massa]. He needed this psychologically and the team needed it as well and it creates a little bit more parity between the drivers and we go into this next part of the season in slightly better shape.?
Bottas still leads Massa in the Formula One World Championship by 67-points.
Bottas currently sits in fourth position, 44-points behind Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who has won three Grand Prix this season.
Massa sits in 9th, 14-points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who replaced Massa at Ferrari this season.
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