Felipe Massa will remain at Ferrari in 2013 following his recent performances in Japan and Korea in which he finished second and fourth respectively.
The Brazilian has struggled this and last season to match the performances of his team-mate Fernando Alonso who, up until this weekend, had led the championship whilst Massa has lingered in the midfield at best.
With stronger recent performances, including his first podium since the 2010 Korean GP last weekend in Japan, Ferrari are believed to have agreed a new single season contract for next season.
The move will allow Nico Hulkenberg to complete a move to Sauber next year to reportedly partner Esteban Gutierrez. Hulkenberg had been favourite to replace Massa if the Italian squad decided to replace him.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali confirmed a driver announcement would be made ‘imminently’, paving the way for Sauber to announce their own in the coming weeks.
“Very soon you will know what will be our position on that respect,” he said in Korea.
Discussing why he believes Massa has come good in the last few races, he replied: “I think that for sure he understands now better the car, he understands better the tyres – and also the fact Felipe is a very, very strong driver because otherwise we would have already taken a different decision.
“So I feel that now when Felipe has under his control the understanding of the tyres and car, he performs at the level he should.”
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