Giancarlo Fisichella could be handed a chance to convince Ferrari that he is worth signing by testing for the Italian giant this year, according to a story in this week's Autosport Magazine.

The new Sauber driver has made no secret of the fact that he is eyeing a switch to one of the three big teams in the future – and the close relationship between his current squad and Ferrari means that a test is highly likely to take place in 2004.

Fisichella's team boss Peter Sauber said: “For us it is important that Ferrari does a lot of tyre testing this year. If they need Felipe Massa or Giancarlo, they can do it.”

Ferrari is the only top team that will run Bridgestone tyres this year, and will have to shoulder most of the development work. Sauber, one of three other Bridgestone squads, will not be able to contribute as much as had been hoped.

“We will be doing more tyre testing if it's possible,” said Sauber. “But that's the problem. We do not have the staff to do a lot of tyre testing.”

Source: Autosport