So it's finally official, after months of speculation, Ferrari made it official, Felipe Massa will be staying with the team until the end of next season. The Brazilian has had some strong performance's for the Italian team recently, in Japan two weeks ago he scored his first podium since Korea 2010 when he finished in second place behind winner Sebastian Vettel.
In Korea at the weekend, Massa put in another strong performance and at time's was faster then team-mate Fernando Alonso. He finished the race in fourth place just behind Alonso. Force India's Nico Hulkenborg had been tipped to replace Massa next season however Massa will stay at the team and partner Fernando Alonso for a fourth successful season.
Maasa made his F1 debut in 2004 for the Sauber team before making the step up to Ferrari in 2006 partnering Michael Schumacher. He won took his first F1 victory in Turkey that year and also won at his home race in Brazil.
Following Schumacher's first retirement from Formula One at the end of the 2006 season Massa was joined at Ferrari by Kimi Raikkonen who won the title for the Italian team. In 2008, he was the dominant driver at Ferrari and came very close to winning the championship losing out to Lewis Hamilton by just one point.
During practice for the 2009 Hungarian GrandPrix, Massa was involved in a crash when a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car came loose and struck Massa in the helmet. The Brazilian received life threatening injuries however he returned to Formula One in 2010 and was joined at Ferrari by Fernando Alonso.
Since joining the team Alonso has had the edge on Massa and in my opinion Ferrari should have dropped him and brought a new driver in to partner Alonso. For example Nico Hulkenborg was the ideal candidate to take Massa's seat at Ferrari however I understand why Ferrari have decided to keep the Brazilian because he is the perfect partner for Alonso.
So with Massa being confirmed at Ferrari for another year, and Kimi Raikkonen expected to announce tomorrow that he is staying at Lotus next season it is likely that Nico Hulkenborg will be announced as a Sauber driver replacing Sergio Perez in the coming day's. It is also rumuored that Sauber test drivrt Esteban Guiterrez will be announced as Hulenborg's team-mate although there is still the possibility of Kamui Kobayashi retaining his drive at the Swiss team.
However if Kamui lose's his seat at Sauber he could end up at Force India in place of Hulkenborg.
RedBull Racing - Sebastian Vettel - Mark Webber CONFIRMED
Ferrari - Fernando Alonso - Felipe Massa CONFIRMED
McLaren - Mercedes - Jenson Button - Sergio Perez CONFIRMED
Lotus Renault F1 Team - Kimi Raikkonen all but confirmed will be announced tomorrow - Romain Grosjean all but confirmed
Mercedes AMG - Nico Rosberg - Lewis Hamilton CONFIRMED
Sauber F1 Team - Nico Hulkenbotg - Esteban Guiterez Kamui Kobayashi ( subject to sponsrship)TO BE CONFIRMED in the next couple of day's.
Sahara Force India - Paul Di Resta TBC - Nico Hulkenborg / Kamui Kobayashi ( subject to sponsrship)
Williams Renault F1 - Pastor Maldonando - Valterri Bottas or Bruno Senna
STR - Daniel Ricciardo - Jean Eric Vergne
Marussia F1 Team - Timo Glock - Charles Pic or Max Chilton. More then likely to be Chilton
Caterham F1 - Heikki Kovalainen - Giedo Van Der Garde / Alexander Rossi? Vitaly Petrov expected to lose his seat due to financial issues
HRT - Pedro Dela Rosa - Narain Karthikeyan/ Dani Clos?
Apart from the CONFIRMED driver's the other's are what in my opinion will be for the 2013 F1 season.
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