Felipe Massa has been tipped to stay with
Ferrari on the back of his recent upturn in fortunes on track by former racer Niki Lauda.
The Brazilian looked almost certain to lose his drive after a disappointing start to the season but has produced some more encouraging results in recent races.
In Spa, Massa came through from 14th on the grid to take fifth and then went one better at Monza where he out-qualified team-mate
Fernando Alonso for the first time this season before finishing fourth.
Although he only finished eighth in Singapore, that came after an impressive charge through from the back of the field after a pit-stop on the opening lap to replace a punctured tyre.
While
Ferrari is seemingly in no rush to confirm its line-up for 2013, a report in the German publication
Blick has suggested that it is only a matter of time before Massa is named as Alonso's team-mate for another season.
With Alonso having backed the Brazilian during the Singapore weekend, former racer Lauda has also tipped Massa to remain and said he didn't think Sergio Perez would be given a chance to replace him at Maranello, as had been mentioned in some quarters.
“I don't see it,” he told the official F1 website. “Perez would be a risk. Massa is predictable and Alonso likes him, so I say that such a switch is not going to happen.
“I don't see any mouth-watering switches being made.”