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.”

Today’s FIA press conference at the Interlagos circuit was an all-Brazilian affair, with the two “new boys,” Lucas di Grassi and Bruno Senna, joined by their senior colleagues, Rubens Barrichello and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Felipe Massa. Indeed, it was an all Paulista affair as the four are from the city of Sao Paolo.

Asked to look back at this season, Felipe singled out his qualifying performance as the worst feature of 2010. “This year’s results have not matched my expectations, especially in qualifying where I struggled to put together a good first lap on fresh tyres,” he said. “It’s true there have also been some races where I failed to finish in the points and then there was Singapore, where a qualifying problem meant I had to start from the back.”

As to this weekend’s home race, Felipe shared his fellow panelists’ enthusiasm for the Interlagos circuit. “I have great memories from here with two wins and poles in 2006, ’07 and ’08, which was the last time I raced here. Then going even further back, at the start of my career, I won here twice in Formula Chevrolet. This track has many interesting challenges and you can be creative with the set-up, while many sections of the track require a very technical approach. It might be a short lap, not like most of the new tracks, but this circuit is very well thought out and there is always overtaking here and some nice fights. But it is really the Brazilian people who make Interlagos special – they are so hot with emotion and they sing all day long in the grandstands, which is great for us Brazilian drivers, giving us some extra power.”

Mathematically, Fernando Alonso has a chance of winning the Drivers’ title on Sunday and Felipe was asked if he felt it might happen. “Well, Fernando is leading right now, so for sure I think he can do it here, but as we have seen this season, everything is possible. My personal aim is to try and win the race and of course I can help Fernando by taking points away from his rivals.”

This week sees the premiere of a film made about the life of Ayrton Senna and all four drivers were asked for their memories of the great Brazilian champion, who died during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. “Ayrton was really amazing and I remember so many of his races,” said Felipe. “But what really stands out in my mind was his ability in qualifying, not only taking pole in so many races, but often doing so with a big gap over the rest. For me, that was his strongest point.”

Arguably the best-connected member of the Brazilian formula one media, Galvao Bueno, has revealed that Felipe Massa only needs to put his signature on a new Ferrari contract for 2011.

In the wake of strong speculation that the 29-year-old Paulista might lose his seat to a rival driver, it was reported in Turkey that Massa is now closing on a new deal.

Galvao is the influential lead commentator and head of sports for Brazil’s Globo TV.

Ferrari had a bad weekend at Istanbul Park, but Galvao said: “Want the good news about Felipe Massa?  Everything is set (for a new deal).

“(The contract is) missing two or three commas, but the signing should happen quickly now.”

(GMM)