Monza has traditionally been a venue at which Ferrari likes to announce its full driver lineup for the following season. But it seems that, amid F1's 'silliest' silly-season for years, the famous Italian team is not ready yet.
Team boss Stefano Domenicali, at least, ridiculed reports Fernando Alonso is thinking about leaving. "I am laughing and thinking about the poor people who are reading these kinds of things," he told F1's official website. "If they really knew the truth they would never read such absurd things again."
The real question, then, is about the seat currently occupied by Felipe Massa. Ferrari is not hiding the fact it is considering its options. "I know it's hard for people to believe," he told Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, "but we haven't really stopped yet to think about it. Do you know why?" he asked correspondent Livio Oricchio rhetorically. "Because we have no hurry."
Indeed, even though Alonso is widely regarded as the clear and beloved number 1, a Ferrari seat is always coveted. Even by a former team champion who was ousted at the end of 2009? "The driver issue is not yet on the agenda," Domenicali insisted to Oricchio. "Kimi (Raikkonen) is a great person, but his is one more name among many."
And he insisted that Brazilian Massa is still in the running. "Absolutely. I like him a lot, and we already know what he can give to us. Okay, he is not always giving us what we want, but we know what his potential is."
For now, Ferrari is keeping its eye on the task at hand, even though the realism of continuing to push for the 2013 title will be reassessed after the next two races. "We have updates coming out of the tunnel for Monza and for Singapore," chassis boss Pat Fry is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial. "We will continue pushing and see after that where we are."
In the meantime, Fry is beginning to share the load alongside Ferrari's new high-profile recruit, former Lotus technical director James Allison. "It's good for me," insisted Fry, "because I'll have more time to concentrate on what really makes the car faster. The two of us will share work between us." (GMM)
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