Ferrari has played down rumours it is close to immediately ousting Felipe Massa, insisting it is possible the struggling Brazilian will still be in a red car next year.

On Twitter, the famous Italian team said the latest rumours – including a claim that former Virgin driver Jerome d’Ambrosio is a candidate to replace Massa in 2012 – are “funny”.

But it was Ferrari itself who fuelled the speculation, publishing a statement on its website that read like a warning to Massa.

“It was a very carefully-worded statement, wasn’t it?” said Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

“The way this crazy season is going, I really would not be massively shocked if they ditched him mid-season.”

The Swiss newspaper Blick said Monaco next weekend could be the 30-year-old’s last chance to up his game.

And the candidates are lining up.

“Ferrari knows that I’m ready. If they need me or they want me, then they will call me,” Adrian Sutil, who accompanied his manager to last weekend’s Spanish grand prix, said.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo said some paddock pundits believe “the only reason” Massa still has its seat is because the “name Todt” – a reference not only to Massa’s manager Nicolas but to the FIA president – has a “protective arm” around him.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper this week: “Felipe has the full confidence of the team, starting with our president.

“We have not decided who will be our driver in 2013 but Felipe is not ruled out,” he insisted.

Indeed, while some believe Ferrari has hung a sword of Damocles above Massa’s head, others think the Maranello based team have been patient since the Paulista’s recovery from his near-fatal head injuries of 2009.

“We have no evidence that makes us think that Felipe has slowed down because of the accident. Zero,” Colajanni said.

F1 doctor Gary Hartstein agreed: “An experience like that (Hungary 2009) changes you, but you can’t say that’s why Felipe has not won again.”

The oddest element of the 2012 season so far is that the unlikeliest of candidates could now be genuine title contenders.

Before the Spanish grand prix weekend, Pastor Maldonado was a commonly derided ‘pay driver’ with 500-1 odds of winning in Barcelona, and just a single point to his name in 2011.

Now, he is F1′s newest pole-getter and race victor, and genuinely regarded as a potential contender for the world championship.

And Dr Helmut Marko, the reigning world champion Red Bull’s motor racing manager, said: “If the Williams really has traction that good, then Maldonado will run rings around everyone in Monte Carlo,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Maldonado travelled straight from Spain to Caracus, where he was being quizzed by the local media as to his chances of a back-to-back victory repeat in Monaco next weekend.

“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to be strong again,” he said.

Five races in, F1′s cleverest brains are still yet to decode the mystery of the bizarre and fascinating 2012 season.

As was the case when he utterly dominated last year, Sebastian Vettel is still leading the drivers’ points chase.

But, before last weekend, if he had been told that Williams’ Pastor Maldonado would be the winner of the Spanish grand prix, the German admitted: “Well, I would have put a lot of money on them!

“I think the odds weren’t bad,” he smiled.

Indeed, the major British bookmaker William Hill was taking bets at 500-1 prior to the Barcelona weekend.

A spokesman confirmed that only two bets at 10 pounds or above were placed on Maldonado prior to qualifying.

“I’m sure Williams don’t understand why they just won the race here,” McLaren’s Jenson Button is quoted by the Guardian newspaper.

But the previously-derided ‘pay driver’ Maldonado is not the only potential new winner in 2012, after Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Vettel won the opening four grands prix.

A detailed look at F1′s specialist reporting in the past few weeks shows that Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi are all also widely regarded as genuine victory candidates in 2012.

And given that their teammates have won grands prix this season, even the struggling Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna should be added to that list.

“Dammit, let’s go for (HRT’s) Karthikeyan!” wrote Chris Hockley in the Sun newspaper.

“It’s really quite crazy right now,” Vettel, who despite his young age would count himself among F1′s currently perplexed purists, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“What’s happening is difficult for us to explain,” he added.

The situation has split the F1 audience, with the purists shaking their heads, and others marvelling at the unprecedented spectacle.

“The spectacle has taken over the sport,” said the Paris daily Le Figaro.

“Even the teams can’t be sure who will be the hare and who will be the tortoise at any given track,” wrote Hockley.

Alonso, who is the joint championship leader, is in the purists’ camp.

“Of course it is attractive for the spectators that we are going to Monaco not knowing if we will fight for victory or be left out of the points,” he is quoted by El Pais.

“But in a way, after eleven years in formula one and now I’m at Ferrari, I would like to have more stability,” the Spaniard admitted.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “What’s going on is unbelievable, which I think is the outcome of the new rules, new tyres — I think it’s many factors,” he told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“What’s happening,” said Maldonado’s race engineer Xevi Pujolar, “is that these tyres are allowing teams who do not have the biggest budgets to be eligible for really good results.

“The reason is that the most important thing now is to have a good setup and also some luck with the temperature.”

Pirelli, F1′s tyre maker, has received both criticism and praise for its huge role.

“Pirelli have been both bold and brave,” Sun journalist Hockley said. “It can’t be easy for a manufacturer to make tyres that sometimes wear out faster than you can say Mercedes.”

Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian marque’s company chief, is unapologetic.

“What we have provided is what the teams have asked for, and it was not easy,” Italian language reports quote him saying. “Our engineers have done an extraordinary thing.”

F1′s season of confusion looks set to continue, with an uncertain weather forecast only adding to the uncertainty ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

The bizarre 2012 contest stepped into yet another gear on Saturday, with events unfolding to put the previously-derided pay driver Pastor Maldonado on pole, alongside the crisis-ridden Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

And the Pirelli tyre predicament, worsened on the challenging Circuit de Catalunya layout and under hot Spanish skies, will continue to confound teams on Sunday, with temperatures set to drop and rain clouds predicted to gather.

“I am telling you now, honestly,” said Red Bull’s Mark Webber. “We don’t have even the slightest idea who will benefit when it gets colder.”

The German magazine Auto Motor und Sport laid out the fascinating if bewildering situation as of Saturday in Spain: “Sebastian Vettel doesn’t know why his car suddenly lost grip in qualifying.

“Jenson Button has no idea why he couldn’t generate any tyre temperature on the 40 degrees track. Williams don’t know why Pastor Maldonado clocked the second fastest lap.

“Mercedes’ engineers had to admit they still don’t understand the Pirelli rubber.”

Acting team principal Bob Bell smiled tortuously: “If we did understand, we’d be on pole. But even Pirelli don’t know all the answers.”

Writing in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Livio Oricchio estimated there are up to 12 candidates for victory.

“A grid of madness!” said former F1 driver Patrick Tambay on France’s RMC Sport. “And it’s not over yet.”

So, is Michael Schumacher – having sat out Q3 in order to save tyres for the race – now even more critical of Pirelli?

“I’ll leave it with what has already been said,” he insisted late on Saturday.

Paul di Resta has emerged as the latest candidate to possibly succeed struggling Felipe Massa at Ferrari.

Britain’s Mirror newspaper said the famous Maranello based team has “made enquiries” about the 26-year-old Scot’s current contract with Force India.

The speculation follows Red Bull’s closing down of rumours linking Mark Webber with the switch, as Christian Horner and Dietrich Mateschitz suggested the Australian is set to continue beyond his 2012 contract.

Ferrari chiefs “are known to be impressed” with di Resta since he moved as the reigning DTM champion to formula one at the end of 2010, the Mirror’s F1 correspondent Byrton Young wrote.

“Paul di Resta would be a very good target for Ferrari because (Fernando) Alonso probably has the best toolkit of knowledge and physically is one the best drivers in the world,” triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“Alonso is almost at his peak and to have a young driver such as di Resta be an understudy to Alonso is something I’d consider if I was at Ferrari,” he added.

Luca di Montezemolo has offered Felipe Massa some cautious backing.

The struggling driver was summoned to Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters this week rather than travel home to Brazil to see his young family.

But team boss Stefano Domenicali said the 30-year-old retains Ferrari’s full backing, despite two sub-standard performances in Australia and Malaysia and widespread calls within the media for his dismissal.

Germany’s SID news agency quotes Ferrari president Montezemolo as saying: “We have great confidence in Massa.

“And at the moment I don’t see many outstanding drivers out there,” he added.

The implication could be that an “outstanding” driver might be a candidate to replace Massa either now or in the future.

The cream of Ferrari’s own driver development academy, Sergio Perez, sensationally finished second behind Fernando Alonso last weekend in Malaysia, with Massa fifteenth.

Brazilian former driver and now commentator Luciano Burti traces Massa’s decline all the way back to Hockenheim 2010, when on the one-year anniversary of his near-fatal crash he was told by his engineer: “Fernando is faster than you”.

“When that order came, his house fell around him,” Burti told Brazil’s Globo.

Soon after that, Alonso was – and still is – the darling of Ferrari, while one of Massa’s strongest supporters, the O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio, now believes the Brazilian is little more than the “test driver” for new components.

Amid speculation regarding Felipe Massa’s immediate future, Sergio Perez’s father has revealed that Ferrari approached Sauber.

Earlier, Sauber driver Perez played down the rumours about Massa’s future, including the suggestion he was at the very top of Ferrari’s replacement list.

“Sergio is focused one hundred per cent on (performing in) Malaysia,” the 22-year-old Mexican’s father Antonio is quoted by the Spanish-language Medio Tiempo.

Perez snr’s son is the cream of Ferrari’s development driver ‘academy’ programme.

“Since last year, Ferrari has had three drivers: Alonso, Massa and Perez,” he said.

“‘Checo’ has a great relationship with the team but I can say today that Perez is signed only with Peter Sauber.”

Nonetheless, it has been suggested Ferrari made an approach to Sauber recently, amid Massa’s performance slump.

“Yes, Monisha (Kaltenborn), who is the chief executive of Sauber, confirmed that Ferrari people approached her to talk about Sergio,” said his father Antonio.

At the very least, Perez is a candidate for Massa’s seat next year.

“That would be a good package,” the Mexican answered when asked about the potential pairing of his son with Fernando Alonso.

“I see it only as a matter of time. We have to wait and be patient rather than distract Checo from what he is doing now.

“Sergio was not even aware of the statements made by Ferrari: he was training and focused on his fitness,” added Perez snr.

Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s president, urged calm over the famous team’s current situation, including the calls for Massa’s scalp.

“I understand that the fans are disappointed,” he is quoted by Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper, “but I ask them to remain calm.

“We must remain calm and focused.”

Still, the rumour mill waits for nobody, and even Ferrari’s official ‘Tweet’ about the “reasonable job” done by Massa on Saturday did not go unnoticed.

“I take that to mean, ‘You’re useless!’ German RTL commentator Christian Danner joked.

Adrian Sutil’s manager has denied the former Force India driver is in the running to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari this year.
German Sutil, who has been left without a job for 2012, was mentioned as a possible candidate should Ferrari decide to imminently replace the struggling Massa.

“That Adrian has been linked with Ferrari is of course very nice to hear, but unfortunately there is nothing in it,” Manfred Zimmermann told the DPA news agency.

Felipe Massa’s Ferrari seat is a big talking point in the Sepang paddock on Thursday.
Following a dire performance in Australia for the Brazilian, the Italian press has named Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil and even Jarno Trulli as possible candidates to immediately oust Massa.

Mexican Perez, the cream of Ferrari’s development programme and already at Ferrari-powered Sauber, said in Malaysia: “It’s very early to say that or speculate.”

Very keen for a chance like this, however, is Force India refugee Sutil, who has been left without a job in the wake of his criminal conviction.

“I am very motivated and I’m training hard to stay fit,” the German is quoted on Thursday by Auto Bild Motorsport.

All eyes will be on Massa this weekend, as Ferrari has agreed to build him up a new F2012 chassis in the wake of his lacklustre performance in Melbourne.

“I really don’t care,” he said in reaction to the rumours, “I have a job.”

 Ferrari has swiftly denied reports Felipe Massa could be dumped even before his 2012 contract runs out.
Among the Italian press’ hypothetical candidates for the struggling Brazilian’s seat are Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil and even the out-of-work Italian Jarno Trulli.

But according to O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni dismissed the reports as being “without foundation”.

Colajanni added that Ferrari is fully supportive of Massa’s situation, and has built up a new F2012 chassis for him to race this weekend after underperforming in Australia.

Oricchio quoted Massa as having said after Melbourne that he believed there was a problem with his original chassis.

“My setup was not very different from Alonso’s,” said the 30-year-old, “but my tyres were gone after five laps.”

 Felipe Massa’s formula one career appeared in deep crisis on Wednesday, as the Italian press lined up multiple candidates to replace him.
Earlier, the weekly Autosprint suggested out-of-work grand prix winner and Italian Jarno Trulli is available to step in immediately to replace the beleaguered Brazilian, whose contract expires this year.

Ferrari seemed to clear a path for the 30-year-old’s removal by moving to replace his F2012 chassis ahead of Sepang, “to clear up any doubts about the unusual performance of his car” last weekend in Australia.

On Wednesday, the authoritative daily La Gazzetta dello Sport said Ferrari is considering dropping a driver mid-season for the first time since Rene Arnoux in 1985.

The newspaper said Ferrari development driver Sergio Perez, who is currently at Sauber, is an option, as is the former Force India driver Adrian Sutil.

A poll at Autosprint’s website, meanwhile, asked readers to nominate a worthy replacement for Massa — Mexican Perez scored the highest, with 44.7 per cent of the vote.

Second was Trulli with 27.6pc, followed by Rubens Barrichello at 6.6pc.

Only 1.3 per cent voted for 30-year-old Massa, who never returned to form following his serious accident in Hungary in mid 2009.

Pirelli would have preferred to test with a 2011-specification car this year, Paul Hembery has admitted.
After writing off the 2009 Toyota as too outdated, F1′s tyre supplier struggled to find a solution with the teams as it pushed for a newer car for private tyre testing.

Ultimately, Pirelli acquired a 2010 Renault.

“We would have liked to have had a 2011 car,” Pirelli motor sport director Hembery told Auto Motor und Sport. “So we are one step away from being happy.”

He said it is no mistake that the chosen 2010 car is a Renault, not a title-winning Red Bull.

“We wanted a midfield car — there probably would have been too many complaints about the world championship-winning one.

“Also, the costs played a role,” added Hembery.

Missing now is a driver for Pirelli’s R30 Renault.

“There are a lot of names on the list,” revealed Hembery. “Even some that you wouldn’t have thought of.

“Ideally we want someone with experience from the 2011 season — so that reduces the number of candidates a bit.”

 Tongues were wagging in the Barcelona paddock on Thursday when some drivers hit the Spanish circuit wearing odd-looking Pirelli tyres.
Some of the tyres, whose compounds are normally visibly differentiated with coloured branding, featured significantly different markings.

The big rumour was that, now just two weeks before the start of the season in Australia, teams had requested the blank tyres in order to hide their test programmes from their rivals.

According to France’s Auto Plus, motor sport director Paul Hembery cleared up the matter by explaining that the blank tyres were in fact “prototypes”.

They had been manufactured not at Pirelli’s usual F1 factory in Turkey, but elsewhere, in the event that a natural disaster forced the tyre supplier to change its plans at the last minute.

Hembery also answered the criticism that, after Pirelli’s initial 2011 tyres spiced up the racing early last year, the new generation might not be aggressive enough.

“We need data from the races to judge that,” he insisted. “It’s far too early.”

He also confirmed that Pirelli is close to announcing the identity of its 2010-specification test car, and a new test driver.

It is believed former Force India driver Adrian Sutil is a candidate.

Sergio Perez has admitted the possibility he could be paired with Fernando Alonso next year at Ferrari.
The famous Italian team has put Felipe Massa on notice, with Mexican Perez – currently driving for Ferrari-powered Sauber – at the head of Ferrari’s driver development programme.

At the same time, however, Red Bull’s reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel regularly declares his desire to one day race a Ferrari.

“Ah, yes,” Perez told the Spanish sports daily Marca.

So who is the real front-runner for Massa’s seat?

“We will see,” he insisted, “as ultimately it depends on this year, which for me is very important.”

Perez, 22, admitted at least that he is a leading candidate.

“Yes, but this season is yet to even start and everything changes very fast in a year. There are many things that are yet to have been seen,” he said.

“For me, Ferrari is the greatest team for which all the drivers dream of one day winning the championship but … let’s see. I would love to be there some day.”

Perez acknowledged that Spaniard Alonso, Ferrari’s much-loved number one, would be a difficult teammate.

“Very difficult, I would say Alonso is the most difficult on all of the grid to have as your teammate, I respect him a lot,” he insisted.

Reportedly on the cusp of a top seat, Perez is nonetheless still fending off suggestions he is a ‘pay driver’, due to his strong backing by the Mexican sponsor Telmex.

“In these days you do depend more on your support,” admitted Perez, “but I believe the talent remains the priority.

“Even with the drivers having support, I don’t think there are any bad drivers on the grid.

“I was criticised a lot for coming with the Telmex money, but if you look back, a driver who wins five races in GP2 and loses the title by 10 points will normally go in F1 the next year.

“It (Telmex) is an influence, but to say it’s why I’m here is not fair,” he insisted.

 Mercedes is eyeing a new two-year contract extension for Michael Schumacher, according to the major German newspaper Bild.
The seven time world champion, having returned to F1 with the famous German marque in 2010, has not decided whether or not to continue his comeback beyond this season.

“Bild knows that Mercedes wants to keep him,” said the newspaper, after the Brackley based team’s new W03 car was launched in Barcelona.

The report said Mercedes has decided to offer Schumacher, 43, a new two-year deal through 2014.

“Before we talk to any other candidate, our first contact will definitely be Michael,” confirmed team boss Ross Brawn.

Schumacher commented: “I’ll decide when the time is right.”