Story highlights
A spokesperson for Sebastian Vettel denies he is moving to Ferrari
Reports suggested the German was set to leave Red Bull for the Italians in 2014
Luca di Montezemolo says Ferrari do not want two drivers who rival one another
Di Montezemolo will meet with Felipe Massa on Tuesday to discus his future
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has reacted to suggestions double Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to join the Italian team in 2014 by saying he didn’t want “two roosters in the same hen house”.
Media reports on Monday suggested Red Bull driver Vettel, who went top of the 2012 drivers’ championship after winning at the Korean Grand Prix, would move to Ferrari in 2014 to replace Brazil’s Felipe Massa.
But Di Montezemolo suggested it would be difficult to accommodate two drivers as ambitious as Vettel and fellow two-time title winner Alonso.
“Today the problem is not with drivers,” Di Montezemolo told the team’s official website. “2014 is still to come but I don’t want to have two roosters in the same hen house, rather two drivers who race for Ferrari and not for themselves.
“I don’t want problems and rivalries, which we didn’t have between (Michael) Schumacher and (Eddie) Irvine, between Schumacher and (Rubens) Barrichello, between Alonso and Massa or Massa and Schumacher or Massa and (Kimi) Raikkonen.
The possibility of Vettel, who leads Alonso by six points with four races of the season remaining, joining Ferrari in the future were also quashed by his representatives when contacted by CNN.
Meanwhile Di Montezemolo rubbished talk of Ferrari swooping for Red Bull designer Adrian Newey.
“As for Newey, I can say that he is very good at his job,” said the Ferrari president, “but we also managed to win eight constructors’ titles in the last 13 championships without him: I have huge faith in our own engineers.”
Di Montezemolo also revealed he will be meeting Massa to discuss his future with the team.
Massa, who took fourth at the Korean Grand Prix, finished second at the recent Japanese Grand Prix, his first podium finish in two years.
“We have the best team: yesterday too, the work on track was perfect,” he continued referring to Massa’s fourth place finish in Korea. “We also have the best driver in Fernando Alonso and I’m happy to see Felipe Massa back at a high level.
“Tomorrow I will meet him at Maranello, we will have a chance to talk about his future and then I will take a decision.”