In the wake of reports that Race and Test Technical Manager Nigel Stepney was unhappy and even considering moving to another team, Ferrari has carried out another re-shuffle, exactly three weeks before the start of the 2007 season in Melbourne.

In a statement issued by the Maranello outfit this morning, the Italian team said: After many years spent working on the Formula 1 circuits, the last thirteen of those as part of the Ferrari Race Team, Nigel Stepney, with the approval of the company, has chosen to take on a different role that will see him no longer have to attend the races.

"Therefore Nigel, who has a contract with Ferrari to the end of 2007, will now be responsible for Team Performance Development, as part of the Track Activity Department, headed up by Luca Baldisserri. The position of Race Operations Manager will now be taken up by David Lloyd, while Luigi Mazzola takes on the role of Test Team and Test Operations and Performance Manager. Both men will report to the head of Track Activity.

A reliable source had previously informed Pitpass that Stepney told him as long ago as the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos that he was seeking a "sabbatical" this year.

"Nigel told me at the Brazilian Grand Prix that he wanted to take a sabbatical in 2007," said the source. "He has a new child, but he also envisaged that this year would not have the order and control of years past due to Schumacher's and Brawn's departures, and his view obviously hasn't changed since October.

"I think he felt that the new regime was going to be, in the extreme, chaotic. Perhaps that's too strong a term to use, but he clearly wasn't confident in the changes," added our source.

However, in response to rumours that Stepney was looking elsewhere, Ferrari was quite clear on the matter, claiming that the Englishman has a contract up to the end of the 2007.