Massa staying at Ferrari, Hulkenberg to Sauber
10/16/12 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' with today's announcement.
10/14/12 The BBC reports that Hulkenberg will sign for Sauber as a replacement for Sergio Perez, who is replacing Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.
There has been no official confirmation though team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said recently that Sauber will seek to confirm their line-up for next year before the end of the current season.
And rumors are strong that Massa will be re-signed by Ferrari this coming week.
10/08/12 (GMM) Some more pieces of the 2013 'silly season' puzzle are set to fall into place.
British broadcaster BBC reports with confidence that, with his return to the podium at Suzuka following a two-year drought, Felipe Massa could have his new contract to stay at Ferrari confirmed "before" this weekend's Korean grand prix.
It's a blow for Force India's Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, who were linked strongly with the Maranello team's potentially vacant cockpit.
But Switzerland's Blick newspaper reports that German Hulkenberg has a back-up plan that is now "ready for the signatures".
"Nico Hulkenberg will go to Sauber for at least two years," veteran correspondent Roger Benoit reports from Japan.
Blick said former Toro Rosso racer Sebastien Buemi, who this year has been Red Bull's official reserve driver, is in the hot seat to replace Hulkenberg.
But Force India's Otmar Szafnauer is quoted as telling Blick's Benoit: "Why doesn't Sauber take Buemi?"
10/01/12 Ferrari have narrowed their choice for Fernando Alonso's teammate next year down to three drivers.
The team's intention is to retain current driver Felipe Massa, but Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta are options.
Massa has reignited his chances of keeping the seat with some strong performances in recent races.
But the team want to wait until at least mid October after the Korean Grand Prix before deciding. Both German Hulkenberg and Scot di Resta have produced impressive performances this season.
In mid-summer, Ferrari were planning to drop Massa, who has been racing for the Scuderia since 2006. But the Brazilian has put himself back in the picture with a series of strong drives since the end of F1's summer break, as well as a general upturn in his performances after a poor start to the season.
In the last month, Massa has finished fifth in Belgium, fourth in Italy and produced a strong comeback drive in Singapore to finish eighth after a first-lap puncture put him to the back of the field.
He is currently eighth in the overall driver standings.
BBC Sport understands that Ferrari team members want to keep Massa – as does Alonso, who made his views clear with a comment at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Alonso said: "In my opinion we need to have a driver that respect Ferrari and the tradition of this team and that we work for the team and the red cars. This is the first priority.
"And second I have been working with Felipe three years now and [we have] a good relationship. If the team decide to change Felipe, whoever [comes in] has to be better than Felipe.
"And of the names that have been written I don't know if they have been written with the head or the heart. I don't know if you [can] compare what Felipe did in F1 with what they did…" BBC Sport