Rome: Ferrari will not stand in Michael Schumacher's way if the seven-times Formula One world champion decides to come out of retirement and race for Mercedes, president Luca di Montezemolo told Reuters on Monday.
The 40-year-old German has worked as a consultant for the Italian team since retiring at the end of 2006 but reports say he is close to signing with Mercedes, who have taken over world champions Brawn.
The Mercedes team is run by Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari and Benetton technical director who helped Schumacher to all his titles.
Schumacher announced in September that he would work as a consultant for Ferrari for another three years. Asked if Ferrari would enforce the deal, Montezemolo said: "No, not binding."
"It's clear that if he decides to take another road our (consultancy) agreement will no longer be valid that is logical. You can't work with a competitor and with us at the same time," Montezemolo told Reuters in an interview.
"I still haven't spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars."
Schumacher was forced to abort plans for a Formula One comeback with Ferrari because of fitness concerns in August.
Neck injury
He was due to replace the injured Felipe Massa but pulled out following medical checks on a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident earlier this year that caused him pain during testing.
Ferrari had talked about including him in their 2010 lineup as a possible third driver but those plans came to nothing with the arrival of new teams and the expansion of the starting grid from 20 to 26 cars.
Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Saturday that Schumacher was close to a deal with Mercedes, whose sportscar team he raced for before entering Formula One in 1991.
Mercedes GP chief executive Nick Fry said last week that a Schumacher comeback would be good for Formula One while German driver Nico Rosberg, who has signed for Mercedes for next season, said he would welcome him as a team mate.
"I hope that my team mate will be sorted out pretty soon and at the moment the rumours are very strong for Michael Schumacher," he said in a promotional video for Mercedes filmed in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
"I have no idea if it is true or not but obviously if he would join that would be an absolutely fantastic move," added the 24-year-old, who overlapped for one season with Schumacher in Formula One.
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"It would be a big challenge, a great experience and so I think it would be a good thing," he said of how it would feel to race against Schumacher.
Trulli, Kovalainen to drive for Lotus
Italian Jarno Trulli and Finn Heikki Kovalainen will drive for Lotus in the 2010 Formula One season, the new Malaysian-backed team announced on Monday.
Experienced Trulli had been strongly linked to the team after Toyota pulled out of the sport, while Kovalainen was freed up after being replaced at McLaren by world champion Jenson Button. Malaysian Fairuz Fauzi was named as the team's third driver.
"(Trulli) will bring us a lot of experience to develop the team, and Heikki is a young driver but has phenomenal experience so I think we have two fantastic drivers with Fairuz as well," team principal Tony Fernandes told reporters at a ceremony in Malaysia's parliament.
"It's a wonderful mix of experience, youth and passion and shows our seriousness to be a world championship contender."
Trulli, who has managed one grand prix win at Monaco for Renault in 2004 in a 12-year career, spent the last five seasons at Toyota.
At Lotus, Trulli will be reunited with former Jordan, Renault and Toyota technical head Mike Gascoyne.
"We are pretty confident that the car will not only be ready but will be reliable and good enough to be fighting for good positions," said Trulli, 35.
Kovalainen has also won one grand prix -- in Hungary last year -- and will be looking to rebuild his confidence at Lotus after being overshadowed by Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.
"We all are ready for a tough start and a difficult few weeks and months ... but we can progress all the way throughout the season and establish our name and the team so that we earn the respect of everybody else on the grid and I think we can achieve good results in the medium term," said the 28-year-old.
Lotus are one of four new teams entering the sport next season in an expanded 26 car starting grid.
AirAsia airline entrepreneur Fernandes said he had set an initial goal of being "the best among the new teams" in 2010.
"We are not setting any big targets, we want to at least be the best of the new teams, but I think it shows our seriousness today by announcing two really world class drivers," Fernandes added.
The team's target was for a mid-January engine start and for the car to roll out by the first week of February, said Fernandes.
The Lotus F1 team, which was set up in September, is supported by the Malaysian government as part of Prime Minister Najib Razak's "1Malaysia" initiative to promote racial unity among Malaysians.
The government has said that it would not invest in the team except through national carmaker Proton, which owns Lotus.
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