Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has confirmed that the Scuderia's F1 driver line-up for 2009 will remain unchanged, ending rife speculation that Fernando Alonso could be drafted in to replace either Felipe Massa or Kimi Raikkonen.

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has confirmed that the Scuderia's F1 driver line-up for 2009 will remain unchanged, ending rife speculation that Fernando Alonso could be drafted in to replace either Felipe Massa or Kimi Raikkonen. Instead Ferrari will keep faith with the Brazilian and Finnish duo, who will be retained for their third season together at the Maranello-based team.

During a visit to the team yesterday, at Monza for testing, Montezemolo was questioned by reporters as to whether Massa and Raikkonen would be retained for 2009. Replying "absolutely, yes," the Ferrari President ended much speculation that has seen BMW's Robert Kubica and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel as well as Alonso, being linked to a seat with the team. The Scuderia was at Monza taking part in an official F1 test in the run up to the Italian Grand Prix which will take place at the track.

Commenting on Alonso, Montezemolo said: "I was disappointed to see a great champion like him not make the top 10 in Valencia." The Spanish former double F1 World Champion retired on the opening lap of the European Grand Prix, held for the first time on the streets of Valencia last weekend, after tangling with another competitor.

He also dismissed the recent run of problems for Raikkonen, saying that the reigning F1 World Champion was "not in a crisis". A slew of non-finishes in grands prix suffered by the Finn has left him 13 points adrift of the top of the points table. Currently McLaren's Lewis Hamilton leads the title standings with 70 points, Massa (64 points) is second, with Raikkonen (57 points) third. "He is motivated and we must work hard so that he is in a position to make a quick start, especially on the new circuits which I don't like and are doing harm to Formula One. You can't overtake and nine times out of ten whoever takes pole position wins," added Montezemolo. "All this criticism of Raikkonen reminds me of when Inzaghi was at Juventus, if he did not score in three matches everyone said he was in crisis."