Sutil resurfaces as Massa axe rumours louden

Rumours that Felipe Massa is now on his last legs at Ferrari are beginning to gain in volume.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali fueled the speculation on Sunday by insisting Ferrari expects the struggling Brazilian to "fight back starting in Monaco".

"We absolutely need his points to also fight for the constructors’ title," said the Italian.

Before Domenicali’s words, whispers were already doing the rounds that Adrian Sutil could be set to play a role, should Ferrari bite the bullet and dump Massa.

The former Force India driver could either replace him directly, or replace a driver who moves from his existing team to Massa’s cockpit.

It is the latter scenario that seems most likely.

Sutil, trying to resurrect his career after the Eric Lux assault affair, returned to the F1 paddock at the weekend in Barcelona, accompanied by his manager Manfred Zimmermann.

They spent a lot of time at Force India, his old team.

The big rumour, therefore, is that the Anthony Hamilton-managed Paul di Resta could be set to move to Ferrari, with Sutil to fill the Force India vacancy.

But there is also a whisper that Nico Hulkenberg’s manager Timo Gans has been spotted in the Ferrari motor home.

"It’s important to be here," Sutil told German television RTL at the Circuit de Catalunya. "Hopefully something comes of it.

"It’s still very early in the season, so I have to wait a bit, but on the other hand maybe I can get back into a cockpit quite quickly."

He admitted that he spent "most of the time" during the Spanish grand prix with Force India.