Feb.21 (GMM) Felipe Massa may have kept his seat at Ferrari for economic reasons.

Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari
Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: xpb.cc

That is the view of Keke Rosberg, the 1982 world champion and father of Mercedes race driver Nico.

Keke's Finnish countryman Mika Salo, a former Ferrari driver, told MTV3 last week he was "surprised" Brazilian Massa kept his seat for 2012 after two consecutively poor seasons.

Massa already had a contract for 2012, but at the end of 2009 - when Kimi Raikkonen was replaced by Fernando Alonso - Ferrari showed it is not afraid of paying handsomely to end a deal. So is Rosberg also surprised Massa is still Alonso's teammate?

"I think that's been influenced by the fact that they burned quite a lot of money with Kimi," the 63-year-old said.

"They could have again paid off the guy with the contract and taken someone else, but at some point you have to be economically mindful -- you can't always go for the most expensive option," added Rosberg.