During second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Williams racer Massa felt unwell and “dizzy”, and visited the circuit medical centre before a precautionary hospital trip.
He was cleared to take part on Saturday’s FP3 session but during the session, he felt ill again and stopped running – climbing out of his car.
Massa has now decided to withdraw from the weekend, with Williams reserve driver di Resta stepping in to take his place for qualifying and the race.
This is allowed in the regulations as qualifying is deemed as a sort-of practice session, so di Resta will make his first F1 start since Brazil 2013.
Di Resta of course won the DTM title before a stint at Force India in F1, before returning to the German touring car series while taking on the role of Williams reserve.
Statement from @WilliamsRacing on @MassaFelipe19 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/I6W47CE6tk
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) July 29, 2017
He was set to commentate on qualifying and the race for Sky Sports F1 but obviously his Williams commitments are much more important…
Di Resta doesn’t have much experience at all with these new-era, V6 turbo cars, so it’ll be pretty tough with the last-minute call-up.
It’ll interesting to see how quickly he gets up to speed, though, and also how he compares to Williams rookie Lance Stroll.
Here’s hoping Massa gets some rest over the summer break and he’ll be back, ready to go and return to the track at the Belgian GP.
