Luca di Montezemolo has come out and said that next season would still be 'too early' for Perez to drive for Ferrari.
What's interesting is that he instead chose to highlight Sebastian Vettel's name when asked who he would like to see alongside Alonso:
"I think that Vettel is more or less in the condition like when Michael was in Benetton," he added.
"He's younger, he's a very good driver and he's making a very good experience so in theory, if you have to ask me a name, I could tell you his name."
This is particularly significant when you consider that Vettel is rumoured to have already signed a pre-contractual agreement to join Ferrari for 2014, which if true, would be a major obstacle in signing Perez particularly because Fernando Alonso is also contracted until 2016, and it is unlikely that both parties would like Perez to sign for just one year
The Team Principal of Ferrar Stephano Domenicalli has already implicitly giving his blessing to such a move:
http://www.bbc.co.uk...rmula1/18524133
Which is in complete contrast to his opinion of Hamilton:Domenicali said: "I think they are both intelligent guys and they could easily co-exist together."
http://www.jamesalle...ng-for-ferrari/
On Lewis Hamilton, Domenicali says that he still sticks to his view, a common one among experienced people in F1, that Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel are the three standout drivers at the moment, and nothing Hamilton has done would put him off signing him if the circumstances were right. But he says that he cannot see a place for Hamilton at Maranello,
“I am pleased he said ‘never say never’ on the subject of Ferrari, in fact it is logical that everyone aspires to come to Maranello sooner or later, given what we represent in the history of this sport.
“Having said that, I don’t think the question will arise, neither in the short nor in the long term, ” said the Ferrari boss.
Vettel of course has come out and denied such signing anything with Ferrari
http://www.independe...al-7804421.html
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Vettel said: "I know nothing about it. I've never signed anything."
However:
according to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, the right-hand man to owner Dietrich Mateschitz, Vettel has an opportunity to leave under the right conditions.
Marko told Bild: "2013 is fixed for us. For 2014 there is a performance-related clause in his contract - for him and for the team.
"It depends on the rankings in next year's world championships.
"If Vettel and Red Bull slip in the drivers' or constructors' championship, he could go."
In light of Marko's remarks there is no doubt that this season Red Bull have been affected by the rule changes implemented for the 2012 season. It has been apparent through qualification times that rather than the rest of the field catching them up, they instead have lost a lot of performance (confirmed by Newey) through the banning of the exhaust blown diffuser and flexible front wing. With Vettel third in the WDC, Red Bull being chased down by McLaren in the constructors, a car that hasn't looked truly capable of winning in the last 4 races, and the fact that with very few rule changes the cars are unlikely to change much between now and next season it's highly likely that he could be persuaded to go to Ferrari, especially if he feels that Newey is unable to provide him with the same car advantage he enjoyed previously.
It might also be very beneficial for his reputation. A lot of Vettel fans are confident in their belief of how good a driver Seb is. Outside of that however there is still some speculation on how good he really is he's only competitive team mate having been Mark Webber, a driver who shows occasional brilliance but not on a consistent basis. Going up against Alonso widely regarded as one of the best drivers in the world would allow us to benchmark not only how good Vettel is (of course not providing a definitive answer), but also give a better idea of how good Alonso is, whose only benchmark currently is the woefully under performing Felipe, and his maturity when dealing with a competitive team mate.
Of course right or wrong with both Alonso's and Ferrari's history, talk of another driver coming to Ferrari raises issues of equal treatment and whether this would be granted to Vettel. Traditionally Ferrar has had a number 1 and number 2 driver structure and though they have been careful to stress that both drivers would have an equal opportunity If Vettel were to start beating Alonso, how would the latter, known for being political, but adored by both the team and the tifosi, react? Of course in this situation one can draw a parallel with the 2007-2008 years when both Ferrari drivers were evenly matched and that number 1 status was only given to the one that was ahead after a certain point and both drivers were beneficiaries of this. One can also state that in their three years of competing Massa has never really been in contention for the WDC and so the number 1 policy conferred on Alonso after Germany 2010 and in 2012 is merely a continuation of their post 2006 driver policy which Vettel too would be a beneficiary of should he beat Alonso on a consistent basis.
There are of course many pros and cons to Vettel leaving Red Bull to join to Ferrari, what do you think?
Edited by Kvothe, 12 September 2012 - 15:25.