I don't see why they would even begin to consider Petrov when they already have Perez doing a reasonable job so far and they are clearly grooming Bianchi (guess who his manager is?) too.
Because despite having a young driver program, they clearly don't have much faith in it. When Massa's head was reported to be on the chopping block, the first person linked to the drive was Nico Rosberg, and then later is was Adrian Sutil. There were never any rumours about Perez stepping up to fill the second Ferrari seat, despite his position in the young driver program. Even with the talk that Jules Bianchi will go to Sauber, Ferrari are clearly hesitant because they want to judge Bianchi against Perez rather than actually take a chance on a driver they are backing. With the talk that Ferrari are backing Robert Kubica for 2013, now more than ever is the best time to take a chance on a young driver like Sergio Perez. Alonso is strong enough to carry the team on his own.
What does Petrov really bring that say Perez does not?
Another iron in the fire. They're backing Kubica for 2013. They've got Perez and Bianchi in driver development. Putting Petrov in a third driver role gives them an option for replacing Massa mid-season. They've already said that they're unhappy with Massa's performance in 2011, and that he needs to lift his game or 2012 if he wants to keep his seat.
The last time Ferrari needed to replace a driver mid-season, they managed to shoot themselves in the foot. Massa was injured, and the only man they could call up to the place was Luca Badoer. They eventually got Giancarlo Fisichella out of his Force India seat, but it took them three races to do it. If they decide to replace Massa mid-season, they'll want him gone, and they won't want to be left with a choice of Fisichella or Marc Gene, especially since neither have driven on the Pirelli tyres. They'll want someone they can put into the seat straight away.
If Petrov is at Ferrari for any reason, it would only be money.
Ferrari could certainly use Petrov's money, but that doesn't mean they
need it the way other teams do. And I seriously doubt the Russians are going to pay $15 million so that Petrov can sit on the Ferrari pit wall for a year. They'd probably get a better return on investment by flushing it down the toilet. So if Ferrari take him for his money, he'll probably get a Friday program going. If he doesn't run on Fridays, he won't be paying for the privelige. The problem is that Ferrari "encourage" their drivers to take a year off once their contract is up, usually to stop knowledge about their car leaking out (it's no coincidence that de la Rosa joined Sauber in 2010 and Sauber were the first team to get a passive F-duct going). But if Petrov is paying them, then I doubt they could bench him for 2013.
That said, I don't think there is much to this rumour at all. One of Ferrari's technical partners is Russian computer security group Kaspersky Lab. That seems to be where this rumour has originated from (although my Russian isn't nearly good enough to dig any further); a case of "Ferrari have a Russian sponsor (sic) so there's a chance they'll take a Russian driver". I think that if Petrov is going to end up anywhere in 2012, it will be at Caterham, replacing Trulli. I don't think Martin Brundle would have commented on it otherwise - he rarely talks about the politics of the driver transfer market, and when he does, he usually has a reason for saying what he does.
If that's the case, I'm still going to have to sell out, though.
