Ferrari have ended days of speculation regarding the identity of their second driver for next week's Italian Grand Prix by announcing that Giancarlo Fisichella will see out the rest of the season with them.
The Italian was released from his Force India contract with immediate effect on Thursday.
Fisichella 36, had been the overwhelming favourite to replace the hapless Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s veteran test driver, who struggled badly in his two races last month.
And the 'Roman Cockney' did himself no harm by securing Force India’s first ever F1 points at Spa last weekend, ending the race in second place behind his new Ferrari team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, having qualified on pole.
“We have chosen Fisichella because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this final part of the season,” Ferrari’s team principal Stefano Domenicali said.
“Giancarlo has shown, throughout his long career that he is fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run an Italian driver in our home race.
“We wish to thank Luca Badoer for the team spirit he demonstrated in these circumstances: it is a shame he was unable to show his true worth in these last two races, tackled under conditions which anyone would have found difficult.”
Force India owner Dr Vijay Mallya claimed that discussions with Ferrari only began in the last 24 hours, once it became clear that Massa was out for the season.
"Giancarlo and his management team approached me yesterday with the proposal from Ferrari," Mallya said.
"For any Italian driver, a Ferrari race seat is a long-held dream and for Giancarlo it was no exception. No one should stand in the way of this.
"Furthermore the agreement will secure Giancarlo's long-term future with Ferrari and it would be incorrect to jeopardise this, particularly when Giancarlo has made such a vital contribution to Force India."
Mallya’s team is understood to have outstanding debts with Ferrari left over from its customer engine supply deal that ended last year - but the Indian billionaire said that commercial factors did not have a role in the outcome.
"We would like to stress that we have not agreed any financial settlement with Ferrari," he said. "This agreement has been made in good faith and for the good of Giancarlo and the sport in general. A competitive Italian driver in a Ferrari for Monza is a positive story for Formula 1, which can only help raise the sport's profile in these difficult times.
"We would like to thank Giancarlo for all his help over the past one and a half seasons and for delivering us our first World Championship points last weekend.
"He has been an integral part of the team and we owe him a great deal for his input behind the scenes and performance out on track. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Fisichella thanked Mallya for allowing him the opportunity to see out his career with the sport’s marquee name. He is expected to remain at Maranello as a test driver when Massa returns next season.
“I am very grateful to Vijay Mallya for allowing me this opportunity to drive for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team,” he said. “It is true that it has always been an ambition to do this, and for Vijay to have allowed it to become a reality is very generous.
"I hope in my turn I have helped Force India grow up and be on the right path to achieve theirown ambitions. They are now a very competitive team and I wish them all the very best.”
Force India have not made a decision who will drive alongside Adrian Sutil for the rest of the season, although it is expected that Vitantonio Liuzzi will step up from his test drive role.
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