Rossi in Red on 20 and 21 January in Barcelona

It has been a rumour for quite a while and today Stefano Domenicali officially confirmed that Valentino Rossi will be back behind the wheel of a red Formula 1 single-seater. "Chairman Montezemolo had promised it to him after he won the World Championship again,” the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team Principal said during the news conference in Madonna di Campiglio.

"Valentino will drive in Barcelona on 20 and 21 January behind the wheel of a F2008. After that we’ll concentrate on our respective goals: Moto GP for Vale and Formula 1 for Ferrari. If I’m his fan? Our relationship regarding esteem and friendship says it all.”

Asked about a possible future for Valentino behind the wheel of a third Ferrari in Formula 1 Domenicali said: "Never say never. There has been discussed a lot about a third car and this could be a hypothesis of an interesting improvement for the whole world of Formula 1, even more if as a result Rossi had the possibility to race in our sport. This is not true only for Ferrari, but also for the other teams: when we’re talking about a third car we don’t necessarily mean that it has to be three cars in our team, but we might also give our single-seater to be run by a small team.”