Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has ruled out a move for Sergio Perez, stating the Mexican is too inexperienced.
Speculation has been rife that the Sauber driver, who is a member of the Ferrari Young Driver Academy, was being lined up as a replacement for the out-of-form Felipe Massa.
A stunning drive to second in Malaysia even started rumours that the Mexican could be in a Ferrari seat before the end of the season.
However, di Montezemolo has dismissed reports Perez will move to Ferrari in the near future.
"Perez is a good driver, but to drive a Ferrari you need more experience," he said.
"I think he is one of the potential best young drivers for the future, but before putting a young driver in a Ferrari, I need more experience and more results."
Indeed, after an improved showing in Monaco and a season-best sixth-place finish, the Ferrari boss is not ruling out retaining Massa for 2013.
"I'm sure that because we are improving our car, the car will be less difficult to drive.
"And I expect from Felipe better performances as I have already seen in Monte Carlo, because in Monte Carlo he was among the five quickest drivers on the track and in the qualifiers.
"So I hope he will continue like this. At the moment we are not taking any decision yet for the future because it is too early."
