Force India has emerged as Nico Hulkenberg’s best chance to stay in formula one next year.

The promising German rookie has been ruled out of an extended stay at Williams next year, as the British team apparently clears a seat for a paying driver.

“I heavily regret that, because I would have been happy to stay,” the 23-year-old said.

Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber revealed: “I am negotiating with other teams. Nico will have his seat in F1 in 2011.”

Revealing that more news will come in the next “one or two weeks”, Weber told SID news agency: “He has to stay in formula one. He is the next biggest hope for Germany after Vettel and Rosberg.”

Auto Motor und Sport named Silverstone based Force India as the best option, with Adrian Sutil considering a seat elsewhere and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s future clouded despite his possession of a 2011 contract.

Hulkenberg “requires far less salary than Sutil, but he brings far less sponsor money”, the German report noted.

Another race seat might be open at Renault, but the latest speculation is that the Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov has done enough to justify the place alongside his sponsors.

And Spain’s El Mundo reports that the Kremlin might add to Petrov’s 2011 coffers, now that Russia is embarking on a F1 circuit project.

“Soon we will know what we are going to do,” Petrov is quoted by The Guardian newspaper. “We have been going forwards, forwards, forwards, everything going in the right way.”

David Coulthard says he is convinced Mark Webber will be staying at Red Bull in 2011.

After his failed push for number 1 status this year, and now the loss of the drivers’ championship to Sebastian Vettel, speculation was once again rife that the Australian might not honour his new one-year contract.

But Coulthard, Webber’s former teammate at the energy drink-owned team and now a consultant, insists “there is no doubt in my mind” the 34-year-old will wear the number 2 on next year’s RB7.

“There are 119 days before the next season kicks off and he will go away and reflect on what worked and what didn’t. He will come back stronger,” the Scot wrote in his latest column for the Telegraph.

There are also signs that Webber has been patching up his strained relationship with his young teammate.

They rode on the same plane from Abu Dhabi for the Red Bull title celebrations in Salzburg, and Coulthard was there to witness it.

And the Scot added: “I know they spent a whole hour after the race in the drivers’ room talking it all over”.

Coulthard said that on the plane “Sebastian and Mark sat next to each other and dozed and talked.”

But before Webber bounces back next year, his father expects him to enjoy a rare holiday and even a few indulgences, after working hard in 2010 to keep his 6 foot frame below 75 kilograms.

“He’ll recover and he might actually have a bit of a holiday,” his father Alan told the Canberra Times.

“He’ll maybe put a little bit of weight on and have to work hard in February to get it off again.

“He’s not getting any younger but if he relaxes and has a great off-season he’ll come back very strong,” added Alan Webber.

There is, however, some speculation that it was Webber’s call not to be involved with the first testing of the Pirelli tyres late this week.

And he is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “This was perhaps not my last chance to be world champion, but surely it was my best.”

Jean Eric Vergne has emerged as the leading contender to become Red Bull’s F1 reserve driver in 2011.

The 20-year-old Frenchman this year replaced the energy drink company’s ousted junior driver Brendon Hartley, and he said in August he is becoming “more and more” involved in the F1 programme.

“The objective is preparing for grands prix: we try different setups and there is also work on the (2011 car) RB7,” said Vergne.

On Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the new champion of British F3 will conduct the ‘young drivers’ test days for Red Bull’s second F1 team Toro Rosso.

“I am looking forward to it and hope there will be other opportunities to drive an F1 car in the future,” said Vergne.

The French publication Auto Hebdo said Vergne, who in 2010 also raced in Red Bull colours in the Renault World Series, “should be confirmed soon in the position of third driver with Red Bull Racing for 2011″.

Red Bull’s current third driver is 21-year-old Daniel Ricciardo, who is driving the title-winning RB6 in Abu Dhabi this week.

As Sebastian Vettel soaks up the spotlight, Mark Webber has admitted he is dreading the next few days.

According to the Australian press, he had booked a holiday straight after Abu Dhabi to Oman; a perfect spot to get over the disappointment of losing the world championship to his adversary and teammate.

Instead, he was ordered aboard a communal flight to Salzburg for energy drink Red Bull’s victory celebrations and press conference — and encouraged to pose happily with Vettel for a photograph as he prepares to wear the number 2 on his RB7 in 2011.

“It’s going to be a pretty tough few days,” the 34-year-old admitted to the Melbourne newspaper The Age.

Webber, who skipped Sunday’s jubilant garage scenes at Yas Marina circuit, said there will also be “an empty feeling” to the looming championship celebrations, even though he played his part in Red Bull’s constructors’ title.

“I’ve been involved in the team for a long time, and I know we’ve done some pretty good things over the last couple of years, but it’ll be hard,” he said.

“When the target’s that high and you just miss with the arrow, there’s a long way down emotionally,” admitted Webber.

Also down on Monday is F1′s other defeated championship challenger, Fernando Alonso, who admitted “waking up was hard” after losing his points lead the night before.

The Spaniard will feel even worse when he picks up the Italian newspapers. Corriere dello Sport called Ferrari’s strategy error an act of “hara-kiri”.

La Gazzetta dello Sport said the Italian team “threw away the title”, but the country’s Olympic committee president Giovanni Petrucci called for calm amid the criticism.

“You can also finish second in sports sometimes,” he insisted. “There are also opponents — congratulations to Red Bull and Vettel.”

Red Bull will have to keep delivering a top car to Sebastian Vettel, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has admitted.

The 23-year-old, groomed through the ranks by the energy drinks company, became F1′s youngest ever world champion against the odds in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

“He will be a world champion a few times more,” said Austrian billionaire Mateschitz on Austrian television ORG, “provided he is sitting in the right car.

“We will do our best to give that car to him,” he added.

“If we are not able to, we will have to let him go somewhere where he can be champion again,” said Mateschitz.

Vettel’s current contract runs only to the end of next year, with an option for 2012, but Red Bull has expressed interest in extending the deal through 2015.

His next agreement will be worth much more money, Willi Weber has warned.

But he thinks Vettel has missed out on F1′s headiest days of driver earning power.

“I have a feeling that Michael (Schumacher) and I had the best time in F1, with which you can no longer compare,” the famous driver manager told SID news agency.

“Today there is less money available,” added Weber.

Tony Fernandes on Monday admitted he is not ruling out a name change for his formula one team in 2011.

The Malaysian is locked in a bitter naming dispute with Group Lotus and its carmaker owner Proton.

He has bought the ‘Team Lotus’ name from David Hunt, but Group Lotus has retracted the official ‘Lotus Racing’ naming license because it reportedly wants to enter F1 next year with a separate project.

Fernandes admitted in Abu Dhabi that he wants to keep using the Lotus name but sounded reluctant to let the dispute spill into court.

“So we are going into final stretch of name change,” he wrote on his @tonyfernandes Twitter account on Monday. “Do we keep or do we start brand new identity(?). Please let me know.”

Fernandes also ‘re-tweeted’ a reply from a follower who said “I hate Dany Bahar”, a reference to Group Lotus’ chief executive.

French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet wrote in his Auto Plus column at the weekend that Fernandes is open to dropping the Lotus name if he is paid out by Group Lotus or the Malaysian government.

The team’s technical boss Mike Gascoyne said in Brazil a week ago: “For me, the job I do doesn’t alter if the name changes.”

Williams on Monday announced that Nico Hulkenberg is leaving the British team.

The Oxfordshire based team said Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello’s 2011 teammate “will be confirmed before the end of the year”.

The news follows comments in Abu Dhabi by Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber, who said he believes the team has already signed Pastor Maldonado.

Williams said in a media statement that German Hulkenberg, 23, has put in “convincing performances” in his rookie season and has “an undoubtedly bright future in the sport”.

“We are convinced that Nico will go on to great things. We wish him well and hope that our paths will cross again in the future,” said team boss Sir Frank Williams.

After a double championship defeat to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Lewis Hamilton insists he is not tempted to switch to the energy drink-owned team.

“There is not one bit of me that feels I will ever want to drive for Red Bull,” the Briton is quoted by the Mirror as saying in Abu Dhabi.

“It doesn’t have the character, the history or the appeal to me that McLaren has,” added the 2008 world champion.

Hamilton, 25, finished the 2010 standings in fourth place, behind both Red Bulls and also his former McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, who now drives for Ferrari.

But he insists that McLaren is his team of choice.

“My hero Ayrton Senna drove for this team and I have always wanted to,” he said.

“Red Bull have done a fantastic job and huge congratulations to them for winning the constructors’ championship.

“Of course, I want my car to be as good as that. I could be here for the next 10 years in this team,” added Hamilton.

“I believe they have got the most potential out of everyone.”

Dietrich Mateschitz has rejected suggestions Red Bull’s race strategy for Mark Webber on Sunday was a plot to mislead Ferrari and favour Sebastian Vettel for the title.

It was Webber’s early pitstop due to the safety car period that caused Ferrari to follow suit with the Australian’s main championship rival Fernando Alonso.

Ultimately, the strategy was a big mistake, as Alonso got stuck behind Vitaly Petrov’s Renault, preventing him from rising to the fifth place he needed in the event of a Vettel race victory.

So was Red Bull’s strategy a deliberate one, with Webber used as bait to entice Alonso to cover him while Vettel strolled to the win from pole?

“Afterwards, everyone thinks everything like that is done deliberately, but that’s not something you can plan,” Red Bull owner Mateschitz told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

After the race, Webber was a notable absence as Red Bull celebrated its double championships. The Australian gave a terse “yeah” when asked if he will be back with the team in 2011.

Also asked if Webber will be back, Mateschitz answered: “I know Mark wanted a clearer position within the team and I can understand his disappointment.

“But he will go on with us.”

The Austrian billionaire said Red Bull’s strength now will be “continuity”.

“We now have our dream team, with the right people in the right positions.

“Of course, our people get many offers, but the entire team is staying together,” added Mateschitz.

Luca di Montezemolo should resign immediately as Ferrari president after the Italian marque blew Fernando Alonso’s title hopes in Abi Dhabi.

That was the emotional charge late on Sunday by Roberto Calderoni, a minister in the Berlusconi cabinet.

Despite being the points leader going into the 2010 finale and needing just a fifth place to be champion, Spaniard Alonso was pitted early by Ferrari in response to Mark Webber’s pitstop and finished seventh.

“Despite the ability of the excellent Alonso, Ferrari has managed to lose a championship already won,” said Calderoni.

“We are ashamed of this insane strategy and he (Montezemolo) is guilty,” said Calderoni.

“He should get out of Maranello immediately so he does no further harm to Ferrari,” added the minister. “By the evening, we expect his resignation.”

According to the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, Montezemolo responded: “Sometimes winners lose, but we do not give up.

“There are some small people who systematically root against the country and its symbols. Luckily they are the minority,” he added.

Alonso also defended Ferrari’s strategy.

“Afterwards it is very easy to see the best strategy,” said the Spaniard. “This is a sport and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian (Vettel), next year we will try again.”

Sebastian Vettel’s title triumph vindicates the decision not to impose team orders this season.

That is the view of Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motor sport consultant who accepted the trophy on the podium after his young German charge became F1′s youngest ever world champion.

Marko has been accused of favouring Vettel over Mark Webber in 2010, including by Red Bull not ordering the 23-year-old aside for his points-leading teammate in Brazil a week ago.

“If we had changed the positions in Brazil, Vettel would not be world champion,” said the Austrian in Abu Dhabi.

Indeed, Vettel’s victory at Interlagos was worth 7 points more than second place, and he beat Fernando Alonso to the championship by just 4 points.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton intimated Red Bull had enjoyed “some extra help” on Sunday in the form of works Renault drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov.

Red Bull’s engine supplier and new sponsor is Renault, and in Abu Dhabi it was Kubica delaying Hamilton, and Petrov refusing to give way to Ferrari’s Alonso.

“I guess that’s what happens when you have a couple of other teammates,” said Hamilton.

Russian Petrov, however, admitted he was disappointed by Alonso’s apparent anger after the race.

“I’m here to race. I hope when he cools down he will realise that,” he said.

Sebastian Vettel cried into his radio under the Abu Dhabi lights on Sunday as he crossed the finish line and became F1′s youngest ever world champion.

The 23-year-old German, now leading the standings for the very first time in his career, had entered the race as the underdog, behind Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in points and dogged all weekend with suggestions he should move over and let his teammate past.

But Vettel won commandingly from pole position, while a crucial strategy mistake triggered by an early safety car, and an unmoveable Vitaly Petrov in a Renault, left Ferrari’s Alonso stranded in seventh place.

Spaniard Alonso let his emotions spill over as he gesticulated angrily at Russian Petrov after the chequered flag, but he later congratulated the new champion and said Petrov “drove very well” in defence.

Former long-time championship leader Webber, meanwhile, finished the race just eighth and the championship just third, and was emotional in his post-race interviews with the media.

Asked by the BBC if he will be back in 2011, he answered simply: “Yeah.”

Fiat has bought back a 5 per cent stake in Ferrari that was sold five years ago to Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala.

It is believed the move ties in with recent rumours the Italian carmaker is considering later selling a significant part of its majority stake in the famous Maranello based marque and formula one team.

The buy-back of the Mubadala stake, costing Fiat EUR 122 million according to the UAE newspaper The National, takes Fiat’s shareholding up to 90 per cent.

It is believed Fiat is then prepared to see this figure drop to as low as a controlling 51 per cent.

“I can confirm that Fiat has exercised the call option for the purchase of the Ferrari stake held by Mubadala,” confirmed a Fiat spokesman.

“We have no further comment to make,” he added.

As the last hours until the 2010 championship finale wind down, there is a threat of showers in Abu Dhabi.

Even though a huge sandy desert sits just outside the plush Yas Marina, there has been rare rain in the area in recent days, including a downpour that wet the track on Friday.

In mid afternoon on Sunday, with just over two hours to go until the evening race at 5pm, the official Meteo France radar screens on the pitwall are showing showers in the surrounding area.

But until now, it has been hot and dry, with partly cloudy skies and a hazy sky after high overnight winds.

With Sebastian Vettel tipped for a supporting role in the build-up to the 2010 finale, the shoe is now on the other foot ahead of Sunday’s decisive race.

Although with fewer points than both his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber and leader Fernando Alonso, Vettel is starting the Abu Dhabi decider from pole.

But if he goes on to win, Alonso – starting from third – will need just a fifth place finish to deliver the drivers’ title to Ferrari.

“Now we have to rely on Mark Webber,” Red Bull’s motor sport consultant Helmut Marko is quoted by Welt newspaper.

Niki Lauda agreed: “I don’t think Sebastian is in the situation anymore where he has to let Webber past.”

Webber’s most realistic chance of winning the title for himself is to win the race, with the Australian then needing Alonso to finish third or worse.

That might require Vettel’s help, but the German – separated from Webber on the grid by three rival cars – sees the shoe now on the other foot.

“It is funny how the tables turn,” Vettel is quoted by F1′s official website.

“On Friday I was confronted with those kind of questions (about helping his teammate) and now it is Mark who has to answer them!”

Some good news for Red Bull’s title hopes comes from Germany, with Bild newspaper reporting that Mercedes has secretly agreed to help Vettel to beat Alonso.

And Norbert Haug is quoted in German by Sky television: “Two hearts beat in my chest for the championship; one for (Mercedes powered) Lewis Hamilton, but … honestly I would be very, very pleased for Sebastian Vettel.”

As for whether Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg or Michael Schumacher could help to influence the outcome, Haug answered: “Given our pace, that’s probably a bit presumptuous.”