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.