Ferrari have confirmed that Nigel Stepney has been dismissed from his role as head of performance development. Last month, Ferrari announced that they were launching an investigation into Stepney - rumours speculated that it was either due to sabotage or espionage. As yet, Ferrari have yet to confirm what they are investigating.

The rumour mill is going strong with German newspaper Bild stating they believe Ross Brawn will almost definitely be taking over from Jean Todt as team boss of Ferrari for 2008, despite offers from several rival teams.

Luca Colajanni, a spokesperson for Ferrari, has revealed that the scarlet-clad team had ‘compelling proof’ against Nigel Stepney.

The white powder found in the tanks of the cars before the Monaco Grand Prix has turned out to be somewhat of a red herring, as it has emerged that both the internal Ferrari and external police investigation are not focusing on sabotage after all.

Nigel Stepney is currently under investigation for ‘doctoring’ fuel tanks. Apparently, before last month’s Monte Carlo Grand Prix, a mystery powder was found in the fuel tanks of the cars and this is purported to have slowed them down during the race.

Ross Brawn, currently on sabbatical, has defended Ferrari’s line-up. “It is a false beleif that a driver can tell the engineers how to make the car faster,” he explained. “The driver’s role is limited to describing his impressions to the engineers so that the data can be interpreted correctly.”

Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, has said that his team will be “pushing hard” for rules to be changed in F1.

Ferrari has surprised many people in the F1 paddock by saying they are taking Nigel Stepney to court for reasons which are, as yet, unclear.

Rumours are circulating that Kimi Raikkonen may leave Ferrari at the end of the season. According to Auto Bild Motorsport, the Ferrari team have already started to look for a successor to the Finn.

Ferrari haven’t had the best couple of races with McLaren beating them hands down. To try and reclaim the top spot, Ferrari will be testing a new aerodynamic package at the Silverstone test this week, ahead of French Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa had a good start to the season, winning in Bahrain and Spain. However in recent races, Ferrari appear to have gone backward and Massa has blasted his Ferrari team declaring that third place behind the two McLaren’s is unacceptable. Massa is now third place in the drivers championship, 19 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari are now 35 points behind McLaren in the constructors championship.