Jaime Alguersuari has backed his Toro Rosso teammate but acknowledged that Sebastien Buemi’s race seat might be in doubt for the 2011 season.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo is Red Bull’s leading junior driver, and he impressed the F1 world with his pace in the title-winning RB6 during the recent Abu Dhabi test.

At the same time, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost – whilst praising young Spaniard Alguersuari – admitted that Swiss racer Buemi “struggled” at times this year.

Alguersuari, 20, was asked if he thinks Ricciardo might replace Buemi as his teammate in 2011 at Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s junior team.

“I don’t know what will happen,” he is quoted by Diario AS newspaper at an event to unveil the Red Bull prototype car for the Gran Turismo 5 video game.

Alguersuari added: “What I can say is that if my teammate (Buemi) had driven a Red Bull, he would do better than Ricciardo. Without a doubt.”

Meanwhile, Tost has issued fulsome praise for Alguersuari’s progress this year, indicating that his place for 2011 is secure.

“Jaime has this year learned to set up and develop and drive the car. Now I’m looking forward to next season, when we will have a much more mature driver who is constantly improving,” the Austrian is quoted by El Mundo Deportivo.

Alguersuari replied: “I’m very proud of what he said because I think I have improved this year and I intend to keep going that way.”

Adrian Newey has nominated 2010 as the worst season in his long formula one career in terms of “petty finger pointing” from rival teams.

As the Red Bull car designer’s RB6 model dominated the timesheets this year, some of the team’s championship rivals complained about alleged technical illegalities.

“It wasn’t a distraction, but it was an annoyance. I’ve got to say I’ve never known a season quite like this one for the petty finger pointing that’s gone on in the paddock,” Newey told Red Bull Racing’s official website.

The rivals’ complaints ranged from allegations of adjustable ride height systems to flexible floors and wings, moving the FIA to toughen a range of legality checks that Newey’s ultimately championship-winning car continued to pass.

But the rumblings persisted; including a common claim in the pitlane and media centre that the RB6′s drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were oddly able to up their pace by as much as three tenths in the crucial ‘Q3′ qualifying segment.

“It’s a myth!” insisted Newey.

“I’m not sure our Q3 performance has been particularly different to our Q1 and Q2 performance, to be honest.

“I haven’t bothered looking through statistics, but I think it’s one of these stories that starts when once or twice the drivers have improved in Q3 and suddenly everybody writes it and it becomes accepted without any real basis,” he added.

Jarno Trulli on Wednesday hinted he expects to remain with the Lotus Racing team in 2011.

The 36-year-old Italian has denied he is considering a switch to American NASCAR racing next year, but speculation linking other drivers with Trulli’s cockpit have persisted.

He had a troubled campaign with the new team this season, whilst insiders say Trulli’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen is happier at Lotus and definitely staying in 2011.

But Trulli told BBC Radio Norfolk: “I’ll go to the factory in a few days to get ready and prepare the 2011 season chassis, cockpit and seat.”

He admitted it was a “tough season” but said he is still motivated to be in formula one, despite his career moving from stints at Renault and Toyota to the back of the grid now.

“Some performances have been pretty bad compared to what I was used to,” admitted Trulli.

“But nevertheless I have always tried to get the best out of myself and the car, I’ve still enjoyed a lot of good fights.”

Which can be downloaded to relive the entire 2010 season, with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as a main protagonist in an exciting Championship, with an exceptional recovery and an unfortunately missed victory.

Six chapters around the 2010 World Championship with wins, difficult moments, the epilogue in Abu Dhabi and further sections dedicated to technical in-depth articles. 28 drawings by Giorgio Piola with virtual animations of the F10′s various components, four specials about the most important issues of the season such as pit stop and new rules, also explained in a video by Marc Gené, the complicated logistical aspects and the celebration of the 800th Grand Prix for Ferrari. A detailed section with a list from 1950 until today concludes the review, with Formula 1 models Ferrari used in the pinnacle of motorsports since the beginning of the F1 Championship.

Over 120 extraordinary images and more than 25 parts with multimedia content on the different pages, enriching the texts in the sections turning reading into real pleasure. The protagonists statements are combined with comments from the fans, who followed and supported the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro during the whole season in the Communitys forum as well as on Facebook and via Twitter. As of today the review’s first part is online, followed by the other issues covered in upcoming sections, completing the 2010 Championship review.

Adrian Sutil has confirmed his manager’s claim this week that he is set to stay with the Force India team in 2011.

The German’s manager Manfred Zimmerman said on Monday that his charge has agreed a new deal with the Silverstone based team but not yet signed an actual contract.

Zimmerman said confirmation is due “within the next two to three weeks”.

Sutil said: “It would be nice to move into a really top team, but right now there are no such opportunities.

“So I’m very happy to stay with Force India for another season,” he is quoted by Bayerischen Fernsehen television.

Sutil had been linked with a move to Renault, but the Enstone based team is believed to have decided to keep Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov in 2011.

And the 27-year-old was tipped as a candidate to replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes, but the seven time world champion insists he remains committed to his F1 return.

Sutil said he is ready to sign a new deal with Force India.

“I hope it happens in the next two weeks,” he revealed.

“It’s a lot of fun to be with Force India, because we came from the back.  Every year we improve, and 2010 was our most successful yet.

“We have to ensure that we maintain the trend, unlike at the end of this season where we got a bit lost,” said Sutil.

Sauber is not yet officially confirming its new team name for the 2011 season.

This year, despite the German carmaker pulling out of formula one before the 2010 season, the Hinwil based team was still known as ‘BMW Sauber F1 Team’.

Former owner Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) agreed to let Sauber keep the acronym in its official title in order to not jeopardise the team’s commercial income due to finishing the 2009 constructors’ championship in sixth place.

But a name change for 2011 will not jeopardise Sauber’s income, due to its fellow teams and the governing FIA agreeing in June to permit the tweak ahead of the next world championship season.

Sauber’s current press releases are issued in the name of its Swiss company Sauber Motorsport AG, but it is believed that in 2011 the official team title will be ‘Sauber F1 Team’.

A team spokesman said this week: “We will communicate the name in due time.”

The team’s managing director Monisha Kaltenborn is quoted by Basler Zeitung: “We have the (F1) Commission’s approval to delete BMW from our name after the end of the (2010) season.”

The report said the final name is not yet published because it might include a new title sponsor that has not been announced.

Organisers of the European grand prix at Valencia are desperately trying to offload the race contract to an alternate host.

That is the claim of the Spanish newspaper El Periodico, reporting that regional president Francisco Camps has determined that the port city cannot afford the annual fee and organisation costs.

On the sidelines of the city race in June, he reportedly asked Bernie Ecclestone if Valencia’s contract – with two years left to run – can be broken, to which the F1 chief executive “flatly refused”.

The report said the organisers are spending EUR 30 million on the race annually, including an 18m fee to Ecclestone’s group and the cost of building and de-constructing the street circuit.

Only 10m is covered by the sale of tickets, having diminished from a race-day crowd of 112,000 in 2008 to just 75,000 this year.

Ecclestone reportedly told Camps that an alternative promoter and venue would have to be found, with the newspaper claiming negotiations with the circuit in Alcaniz as well as Portimao in Portugal have been held.

At the same time, it has been reported that Camps and Valencia mayoress Rita Barbera have held meetings with Ferrari about hosting the site of an Abu Dhabi-style theme park in the city.

Pirelli has confirmed it will try to contribute to the F1 ‘show’ next year but warned it must also be seen as a competent tyre maker.

In Canada this year, the products supplied by the sport’s departing official supplier Bridgestone fell apart, resulting in a highly entertaining race.

The event sparked suggestions the arrival of a new tyre supplier next season is an opportunity to manufacture more Canada-like thrillers.

F1 teams and drivers got their first taste of Pirelli’s proposed tyres for 2011 last week in Abu Dhabi, and noted that while the harder compound wore quickly, the soft was oddly much more durable.

The marque’s motor sport boss Paul Hembery confirmed that Pirelli has responded to the desire that tyre strategy influences the entertainment-value of grands prix.

“We have been asked to produce tyres to improve the show,” he is quoted by the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

“But if we are very criticised by the teams or the drivers, yes, we will be able to bring to the next race very durable tyres,” added Hembery.

Overall, he insisted that the teams were generally “very enthusiastic” after their first encounter with Pirelli, and played down estimates that the tyres are about 2 seconds slower than this year’s Bridgestones.

“It is pointless to make those sorts of comparisons at this stage,” said the British engineer, who also speaks fluent Italian.

The Italian press has leapt to the defence of Fernando Alonso, following media reports that he has so far refused to congratulate F1′s new world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Widespread German reports in recent days quoted Vettel, whilst on a triumphant return to his hometown Heppenheim last week, as saying “He (Alonso) still has not congratulated me”.

Asked to explain Alonso’s cool, Vettel added: “Someone from Heppenheim took the title from him.”

But a report in Italy’s authoritative daily sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport insists that the Ferrari driver “in fact congratulated him (Vettel) repeatedly in the press”.

Alonso said in an interview with the broadcaster Rai that he is already looking ahead.

“There’s definitely a lot of sadness but at the same time thinking that 2011 will arrive soon when we can win as we know we can,” he said.

Alonso said his and Ferrari’s disappointment at missing out on the 2010 title is “normal”.

“It happens when you are second in any sport; Wimbledon, (French Open tennis) Roland Garros, the World Cup, NBA — there is always a feeling of sadness.

“From 2011, I am expecting a lot.  2009 was a difficult year for Ferrari but now we are back in form, the worst is over.”

As for the title winner Vettel, he insisted: “He was the fastest of all, with 10 pole positions and some mechanical problems that took points away from him, but he won in the end.

“Congratulations, but we hope that next year is more difficult for him,” added Alonso.

Alain Prost has admitted he is frustrated that moves to revive a French grand prix have so far not succeeded.

After the demise of the Magny Cours event, the quadruple world champion actively supported the major alternative projects, including one at Flins-Les-Mureaux as well as Disneyland Paris.

He told RMC radio that he is concerned efforts to put France back onto the F1 calendar is losing momentum.

“It must not be buried now,” said Prost.

“There was a great opportunity last year at the time of the regional (elections), and a first draft for Disney which in hindsight was perhaps a bit complicated.

“But Flins was an exceptional site with a real project, a real business plan, and formula one to happen for only eight hours in a year, to appease the critics,” he explained.

“There was a real programme for the utilisation of the circuit, with an economic and social advantage.

“There would have been 100,000 extra people near Paris.  Everyone was enthusiastic, especially Bernie Ecclestone.

“But the project was abandoned when everything was ready and financed, because of the regional election and an environmental problem that was essentially political,” Prost charged.

He confirmed that the biggest problem seems to be a lack of political will.

“Do we want a grand prix of France?” wondered Prost.  “Today, there are no French drivers in F1, Renault will soon not be called Renault … it’s a bit complicated and a financial issue.

“The price asked by Bernie Ecclestine (for a GP) is variable — about EUR 15 million per year in Europe.  Abroad, it is between 30 and 40 million, as in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s an economic equation: how many spectators can you get?  (If it’s) about 50 or 60,000, and the price is 15 million, your losses are about 8 million.

“Who can put up 8 million?  So if the politicians or the government are not saying ‘it’s important for France to have a grand prix’, it’s not worth talking about.

“It’s rubbish when I hear that what is needed is a promoter.  The promoter (of the Disneyland Paris project) was the Lagardere group and myself.

“Above all what is important is that the economics are sustainable,” added Prost.

A race cockpit vacancy might soon open up at Toro Rosso.

The Faenza based team is owned by Dietrich Mateschitz and billed as Red Bull’s junior driver outfit, currently fielding youngsters Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

The pair have been confirmed for the 2011 season, but there was earlier some confusion as to whether both Buemi and Alguersuari will ultimately line up on next year’s grid.

The Toro Rosso lineup is now once again the subject of speculation, after the leading driver of Red Bull’s current crop of up-and-comers – Australian Daniel Ricciardo – so impressed with his pace in the RB6 in Abu Dhabi last week.

The 21-year-old’s programme for 2011 has not yet been decided, but neither Ricciardo nor his boss Dr Helmut Marko are ruling out a move into formula one.

“We pushed Bernoldi, Klien, Liuzzi and Speed without a breakthrough,” Marko said in Germany’s Die Welt newspaper.

“Daniel Ricciardo is the next top talent.  A new Vettel?  I don’t know,” he added.

Next year, Ricciardo – Red Bull’s F1 reserve in 2010 and second in the Renault World Series – might have a chance to prove himself.

When asked to assess the progress of Buemi and Alguersuari in 2010, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost hinted that Swiss Buemi, 22, has now had enough time to prove whether he belongs in F1.

“At the beginning of the season he scored points and had a really good level of performance.  But at the end of the season he struggled a bit,” Tost is quoted by redbull.com.

On the other hand, Tost said Spaniard Alguersuari has improved “step by step” and “is on the correct path”.

When asked about driver continuity for 2011, Tost continued: “Well, you never know what will happen in formula one.  Our main priority is building a successful car.

“Regarding drivers and continuity, we will see,” added the Austrian.

India’s new formula one circuit may also be used for a MotoGP race.

With a bespoke venue currently being built by the Jaypee Group near the capital New Delhi, India is set to host its inaugural grand prix next October.

And according to a report in the Times of India, Jaypee is currently in talks with the MotoGP organising body Dorna.

“Yes, we are in touch,” said Jaypee’s executive general manager Manu Bhaskar Gaur, hinting at a first MotoGP race in 2012.

Adrian Sutil has agreed a new deal with Force India but a contract is not yet signed, the German driver’s manager said on Monday.

The 27-year-old has been linked with a move elsewhere for 2011, while at the same time others drivers – including the job-seeking Nick Heidfeld and Nico Hulkenberg – are eyeing Sutil’s seat with the Silverstone based team.

But Sutil was at the wheel of the Mercedes-powered VJM03 at the Pirelli test in Abu Dhabi last week, and manager Manfred Zimmerman insists that a “fundamental agreement” covering 2011 is already in place.

“Once a contract is signed, we will announce it,” Zimmerman is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“This should happen within the next two to three weeks,” he added.

At the same time, it is rumoured that ousted Williams driver Hulkenberg’s best chance of a continuing job in F1 next year is the reserve role at Mercedes GP.

Sebastian Vettel’s championship bonus tallies a cool EUR 3 million, according to the German newspaper Bild.

It emerged after Red Bull won the 2010 constructors’ championship that the team is paying its entire staff – more than 500 people – a healthy monetary bonus.

Reports said the bonus is 10,000 British pounds each.

But Bild claims that only basic employees are receiving the EUR 12,000, with higher-paid engineers all getting up to 50,000.

The newspaper said the bonuses are costing Red Bull millions, “and champion Vettel is getting three of them”.

Bild said Red Bull Racing’s total championship windfall under the prize-money clauses of the Concorde Agreement is a whopping EUR 73 million, payable in four instalments.

Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Die Welt newspaper that formula one team budgets currently range between “probably 100 and 500 million euros”.

“Our budget is roughly in the lower mid-range,” said the billionaire.

Dietrich Mateschitz has invited Sebastian Vettel to sign a long-term contract guaranteeing him a competitive car each season.

New world champion Vettel remains under contract only to the end of next year, and last week he nominated Ferrari and Mercedes as “the past, present and certainly the future of formula one”.

“But this (move) is still a long way away,” he wrote in a column for Bild newspaper.

Red Bull mogul Mateschitz thinks Red Bull is safe so long as it continues to deliver the young German a top car.

“If not, we would let him go even if he had a contract,” he told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

And Mateschitz told the Cologne tabloid Express: “Seb wants to drive for Ferrari some day.  We will make it as difficult a decision for him as possible.”

Dr Helmut Marko stood on the podium with Vettel in Abu Dhabi, and even he admits that the lure of Ferrari for a F1 driver is strong.

But the Austrian does not think the Italian team will want to “hurt” Fernando Alonso by pitting the Spaniard against Vettel any time soon.

“We all know the political sensitivities at Ferrari.  And he (Vettel) has seen with us that he has a comfort factor.

“He needs a team that doesn’t throw a knife in your back at the sign of trouble,” said Marko, Red Bull’s motor racing consultant.

“Let’s be clear: there is not going to be a ten-year contract, because we are not able to guarantee we will have a competitive car for that long.  And Sebastian cannot guarantee that he will always be comfortable with us.

“But in the medium term, the next three or four years, we are firmly planning to be with him,” he revealed.