Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Massa Extends Ferrari Deal

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Felipe Massa has signed a one-year contract extension with Ferrari to keep him with the Italian team until the end of the 2013 season.

Following a recent resurgence in form it means the 31-year-old is to remain with the Maranello marque for an eighth consecutive year.

A short statement from Ferrari read: "Scuderia Ferrari announces it has renewed its contract with the driver Felipe Massa to the end of the 2013 race season.

"The Scuderia's driver line-up for next year is therefore made up of Fernando Alonso and the aforementioned Felipe Massa."

At one stage earlier this year it appeared as if Massa was on his way out of the team, collecting a miserable 11 points from the opening eight grands prix.

It was a point emphasised yesterday by president Luca di Montezemolo who claimed given Massa's form at the time he had little chance of being retained.

At that stage, at the end of June, Ferrari were known to be on the look out for a replacement, holding talks with Mark Webber before the Australian opted to re-sign his own new one-year deal with Red Bull.

However, since the British Grand Prix, Massa has only finished out of the points once in the subsequent eight races to claw his way up to ninth in the drivers' championship.

The Brazilian's surge has also helped Ferrari overhaul McLaren into second place in the constructors' championship as the duo attempt to hunt down Red Bull over the remaining four grands prix.

In finishing second in Japan nine days ago, his first podium for 36 races - the longest top-three drought by a Ferrari driver in the team's history - and in coming fourth in Korea on Sunday, Massa firmly thrust himself back into Di Montezemolo's good books.

That prompted talks between the two men at Maranello today, and the offer of a new deal, with Di Montezemolo claiming Massa was "back at a high level".

Di Montezemolo said: "You can see from the constructors' championship he has returned to the levels we used to know well.

"I expect a lot from him and his capacity to take points from our rivals."

It will mean another year of feverish speculation next season for Massa, in particular given speculation Sebastian Vettel is primed to join Ferrari in 2014.

That, however, was strongly denied by Di Montezemolo and Red Bull yesterday, with the former suggesting "two roosters in the same henhouse" in Alonso and Vettel would be a troublesome pairing.

Ferrari has long opted for a policy of having a number one driver, as is the case with Alonso at present, and a strong second rather than a duo both vying for the championship, but that is unlikely to stop the rumours from continuing.

In confirming their 2013 line-up, it means Ferrari join Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, with Lotus certain to retain Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, leaving few seats available beyond that.


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