Massa reminded of Schumacher's mentorship by Stroll link-up

Massa was called up from retirement this year by Williams, who sought an experienced teammate for 18-year-old F3 graduate Stroll after original choice Valtteri Bottas had left for Mercedes.

In 2006, Massa had himself served as the newcomer in a Ferrari line-up that also featured F1 legend Schumacher – who backed out of the sport at the end of that year, allowing the Brazilian to carry on as a Scuderia driver.

Asked this past weekend in Sochi whether the intra-team dynamics at Williams in 2017 reminded him of the time he spent alongside Schumacher at Ferrari, Massa quipped: “Yeah, I think so - I think I am passing [information] to Lance a little bit easier than Michael was passing to me.”

He elaborated: “I was asking more than what he [Schumacher] was giving - but he was giving, he was giving a lot. For sure, when I was in front, he was not 100 percent happy.

“But I was asking a lot because I always saw Michael as a teacher, as a master, and I was not afraid to ask, to say 'what are you doing here, what are you doing there', I was asking everything I could from him.

“And he was telling me. But sometimes I needed to ask, he would not tell for free, you know.”

Talking about his current relationship with Stroll, Massa said: “I'm helping him a lot, trying to pass everything I see, I pass to him. [We] get along very well and everything I can do to help him, I'm doing.

“For example, maybe in one corner I'm doing something that he's losing laptime there, so then he's just asking, I say 'oh you should do like this, like that'. Yeah, [it's] no problem.”

Massa, who has picked up all 18 of Williams' points this year so far, said he “was ready” to carry the brunt of scoring while Stroll learned the ropes in F1.

“For sure, it's better to have both drivers scoring points for the team, that's what we need, that's what every team needs in the end. But we cannot forget he's learning, starting.

“He's definitely learning and, as I said, we just need to give the time.”