Ferrari announced earlier today that it has extended its agreement with the team driver Felipe Massa through to the end of the 2010 racing season, at a stroke ending fevered speculation that reigning Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso could join the Scuderia just in time for next year. Alonso, who is one of three drivers still in with a shot at the F1 title this weekend, has openly admitted to his dissatisfaction with his current team, and paddock speculation has recently suggested he could be bound for Ferrari. The news that Massa has been re-signed clearly implies that the Spaniard's future is now finally sorted out, with his former team Renault the most likely destination for the unhappy twice world champion.

Massa has been contracted to the Scuderia since 2001. To date, over the last two seasons, he has taken part in 34 Grands Prix for the team. He has won five times, had sixteen podium places and finished 25 times in the points. He has secured eight pole positions and the same number of race fastest laps, with a total of 166 points scored.

After a close association with Ferrari for four years Brazilian hot shot Felipe Massa was signed, as a 24 year old, to drive for the race team just over two years ago on a one year contract. At the time he was hugely regarded in the F1 paddock for his car control abilities, blinding pace and smooth driving. Massa had made his F1 debut for the Sauber team at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, the year after winning the F3000 crown. Then the youngest driver in F1, his lap times were impressive, but his inexperience showed through.

The next year he took up a testing role with Scuderia Ferrari, before he returned to the Sauber fold again last year. With Sauber using Ferrari engines (badged as 'Petronas' units in deference to their Malaysia title sponsor) it was widely assumed that Ferrari's management had pushed him back into the team, to 'groom' him for an eventual seat in the Maranello team. He had an excellent second F1 season: fourth in Belgium, fifth in Monaco, and eighth in Malaysia, China and Brazil, delighting team boss Peter Sauber.
 

A third season with the Swiss-based outfit beckoned and this saw him consistently outperforming his highly experienced team mate, former F1 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, helping to strengthen his credentials even further. He then stepped up to drive for Ferrari last year as team mate to the most famous and successful driver of modern times, Michael Schumacher. Having qualified on the front row for his very first Grand Prix (Bahrain) in the red car, he finished out of the points. His second race (Malaysia) though saw him battle up from the back of the grid to claim 5th place and his first ever points for the Scuderia. His first visit to the podium came at the European Grand Prix in May, where he was third. He went one step better at the United States GP, and then followed this up with 3rd in France and 2nd in Germany before he took his first pole and first career win in Turkey. Massa then wrapped up the year with poles at the final two races, Japan and Brazil, finishing second at the former and rounding out the year with a dominant win at his home race. This gave him a total of 80 points which put him in 3rd place in the final championship standings behind Fernando Alonso (134 pts) and his team mate Schumacher (121 pts).

With Michel Schumacher retiring and plans for MotoGP star Valentino Rossi to swap two wheels for four eventually coming to nothing, Massa's one year contract was extended into 2007, and now he was driving alongside a new team mate, Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen. This year he has claimed five pole positions, three wins, three second places and three third places, and with 86 points amassed he is fourth in the drivers' championship with just one race remaining. However Massa is out of the title fight, which will be contested by McLaren pilots Lewis Hamilton (107 pts) and Fernando Alonso (103 pts) and his team mate Raikkonen (100 pts), who he will be expected to closely support on the Brazilian's home soil this weekend.