The team did not field the best car in 2010 but Mercedes’ pit crew was the fastest in pitlane.

An analysis by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport showed that the Brackley based team turned around Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg faster in pitstops than any rival outfit.

The refuelling ban this year put in focus the speed of a pit crew’s tyre changing.

The fastest stop in 2010 was 2.9 seconds, achieved by the Red Bull crew whilst servicing world champion Sebastian Vettel at Monza.

But overall, Mercedes’ was the fastest crew, emerging with the quickest stop of the race no less than 8 times — in Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, China, Spain, Monaco, Britain and Belgium.

Red Bull was next best, changing the RB6′s tyres quickest of all in Bahrain, Australia, Hungary, Italy and Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari’s pit crew was quickest three times, and Sauber was best in Korea and Brazil. The fastest pitstop was achieved by McLaren only once this season, in Japan.

Mercedes’ quick stops were achieved with a fully automatic ‘traffic light’ system which is up to half a second faster than using a traditional ‘lollipop man’.

Red Bull, meanwhile, reportedly selected its key tyre changers after a series of tests and training sessions last winter, and the lollipop-holder was chosen after winning a psychological exam.

At the bottom of the list in 2010 was Lotus, with five slowest pitstops of the race overall, followed by four wooden spoons apiece for HRT and Renault.

Returning to his test and reserve role at McLaren is reportedly Pedro de la Rosa’s ‘plan B’ for the 2011 season.

Although earlier linked with HRT for next season, the Spanish veteran has now acknowledged that most of the remaining vacancies on the grid are “reserved for drivers that come with a sponsor”.

“If in the end I have to be a reserve or a tester, I will, but first I will try everything (to race),” added 39-year-old de la Rosa.

Spain’s Diario AS sports newspaper claims that 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton has told McLaren that it should offer de la Rosa his former long-time third driver post for 2011.

“I am trying hard to be racing, but if it doesn’t happen it is not the end of the world,” de la Rosa is quoted as saying.

“I am calm because I know what I’ll do if I don’t find a team to race with,” he revealed.

It is also reported that de la Rosa’s contract as Pirelli test driver ends on 31 December, and that Romain Grosjean will be driving the 2009 Toyota during the tyre test in Bahrain next week.

Reports that Bernie Ecclestone might bail out Silverstone are “poppycock and mischief-making”, according to sources at the circuit-owning British Racing Drivers’ Club.

Rumours have indicated that the BRDC is running out of money to complete the redevelopments at the British grand prix venue and that Ecclestone could gain control of Silverstone by rescuing the project.

While the BRDC is not commenting officially, Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary spoke with key figures whilst attending the club’s awards lunch in London.

He said he was “assured” that the reports, including claims the low-lying development is at risk of flooding, are “all poppycock and mischief-making”.

“Development is on track, on budget and was signed off by respected architects and engineers who would have taken the water table into account,” said Cary, recalling his conversation with the BRDC figures.

“There is a constant search for investment, primarily focused on utilising the development lands around Silverstone to create added value, but this is old news,” he added.

Bernie Ecclestone has proved he can turn even a violent mugging into a commercial opportunity.

The F1 chief executive was viciously punched and kicked outside F1′s London headquarters late last month as a reportedly hugely-expensive watch was taken from his wrist.

A graphic photo of his battered face is now featured on a print advert for his sport’s official watch sponsor, including the Ecclestone quote: “See what people will do for a Hublot.”

The Nyon-based Swiss watchmaker confirmed in a statement that the photograph and quote attributed to 80-year-old Ecclestone in the advert are genuine.

7sur7.be said the adverts will debut in the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune on Wednesday.

Indian F1 driver Karun Chandhok said the move was “classic Mr. E”.

Jarno Trulli has revealed that his only motivating factor in 2010 was that things should be better next season.

After spending the best part of a decade with the well-funded Renault and Toyota teams, the Italian veteran steered right to the back of the grid for 2010 by signing with Lotus.

Tony Fernandes’ new Malaysian team has re-signed him for 2011, as Trulli admitted how difficult this season was.

“At the first test it was obvious what the facts were,” the 36-year-old said in an interview with the Dutch magazine formule1.nl.

“I knew the year was over and the only way to keep motivation was to count down to next season,” added Trulli.

Although with a brand new team powered by a smaller than usual budget whose car was designed and built in record time, Trulli admits he did not expect 2010 to be quite so difficult.

“Of course I expected a difficult season in terms of performance, but not so much on the reliability side.

“By the end, I was used to it. What can you do? Getting angry doesn’t help.

“The worst thing was when you had to just finish the race. In Brazil for example the hydraulics failed and I still managed to finish, but it’s not how you like to drive.

“But by Brazil I had reached a point when I didn’t get angry. Not that I was indifferent, but I was doing it for the team.

“It was important to beat the other newcomers to finish tenth in the world championship, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not performing as you want or are tired of the hydraulics failing — the team comes first,” said Trulli.

“Anyway, the season is over now. I managed to motivate myself until the last race and I’m really looking forward to 2011,” he insisted.

Narain Karthikeyan has played down increasing rumours he could be set to return to formula one in 2011.

Before Karun Chandhok made his debut in 2010, 33-year-old Karthikeyan was India’s first grand prix driver, contesting the full 2005 season with Jordan.

The Silverstone based team is now headed by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya and called Force India, and is yet to officially confirm a single driver for next season.

It was believed that Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg were vying for the two race seats, but Karthikeyan – reportedly with $8 million in sponsorship to offer – is now also regarded as a credible candidate.

Karthikeyan has recently established a new career in America’s premier NASCAR motor racing scene, but Indian media reports say he tested in Force India’s driver simulator after the Abu Dhabi season finale last month.

“I did go for a simulator test but that’s all that happened,” he told the press.

“I’m not willing to comment on what happened during and after the tests. I think you should talk to (Vijay) Mallya about the results and my performance,” added Karthikeyan.

His hopes may have been bolstered by the fact that, next October, India will host its first ever grand prix.

“I’m looking forward to it. Every driver would like to be in the inaugural race,” Karthikeyan admitted.

But he admitted that turning his focus away from NASCAR to return to F1 next year would be “a risk”.

“I see myself being in this (NASCAR) for some time,” revealed Karthikeyan. “Getting out of America and then getting back in is not easy.”

Heikki Kovalainen will spend another week recovering from a head injury sustained recently.

The Lotus driver was ordered to bed early last week after medical checks showed he suffered a heavy concussion when he crashed an Audi R8 during the Race of Champions event in Dusseldorf.

Kovalainen, who was knocked out in the crash while his girlfriend suffered minor injuries, wrote on Twitter that his recovery is “going well”.

“Final scans for the head done today, no problems and just one more week resting then back to fitness training!” reported the 29-year-old Finn.

The design of Red Bull’s title-defending 2011 car is not lagging behind, according to Sebastian Vettel.

It had been reported that, due to the team fighting to the death for this year’s championship and also designer Adrian Newey’s renowned belatedness, the RB7 might not be ready for the first group test in February.

Sauber and Toro Rosso are the first teams to confirm they will be present with their new cars at Valencia at the beginning of the second month of 2011.

And now new world champion Vettel tells the German daily Hamburger Abendblatt: “Right now it looks like our car will be ready on time.

“The first test is planned for early February in Valencia,” said the 23-year-old.

Mark Webber broke his shoulder yet again with just four crucial races left to run in 2010.

In late 2008, after shattering his right leg in a mountain bike smash, the Australian hid from his employer Red Bull the fact that he also broke his left shoulder.

But with his injuries apparently fully healed, it recently emerged that Webber would miss the post-season Abu Dhabi Pirelli test due to surgery.

It was believed the operation was due to his 2009 pre-season breaks, but Webber has now revealed in a book that he was carrying a fresh injury into his recent charge for this year’s title.

In his official book ‘Up front: a season to remember”, the 34-year-old revealed that he broke his shoulder again after returning to Australia after the Singapore grand prix in late September.

Once again, he crashed a mountain bike; this time when a friend fell in front of him.

Webber’s injury is reportedly known as a “skier’s fracture”; not serious but deep in the joint and difficult to treat.

The book said he declined to tell his boss Christian Horner, and that only his trainer Roger Clearly and FIA doctor Gary Hartstein knew about the injury and his cortisone injections in Japan and Korea.

The injury might explain Webber’s crucial loss of form after leading the championship at the time of his accident by 21 points from Fernando Alonso.

And when he crashed, Webber was 31 points clear of his teammate and eventual champion Sebastian Vettel.

Michael Schumacher has set out his stall for a much more competitive car in 2011.

After three years of retirement, the 41-year-old struggled this year alongside his younger teammate Nico Rosberg, but neither were able to win with the W01.

Schumacher has a contract with Mercedes GP for 2011 and also 2012, but the German admitted to Swiss newspaper Blick that he needs to be pushing further up the pack as soon as possible.

“There is really only one goal, and that’s winning,” said the seven time world champion.

“The team won the world championship last year, so it’s pretty hard for everyone to have a season like we had.

“Of course from my side it’s important to identify the weaknesses, but I didn’t have to put my finger into the wound to wake people up — that is done automatically with the results.

“So we are extremely motivated to come into a position to be able to win. This is the basic requirement; I said already at the start that I don’t want to drive around in the middle (of the field),” insisted Schumacher.

Although also not happy with 2010, arguably the only winner at Mercedes this year was Rosberg, who by beating Schumacher showed his potential for wins and titles.

“He (Schumacher) is a very high profile teammate and I’m obviously happy to have been ahead of him,” the 25-year-old is quoted by Auto Bild.

Like Schumacher, Rosberg is hopeful of a better 2011 but acknowledges the scale of the task.

“Sooner or later it will happen, but we can’t forget that the gap we have to the front is quite big,” he insisted.

Bernie Ecclestone observes that Mercedes’ results in 2010 make it difficult to assess the performances of both Schumacher and Rosberg.

“Put him (Schumacher) in one of the Red Bulls and then see what happens,” the F1 chief executive wrote in the foreword to the Official Formula 1 Season Review 2010.

“But then we don’t know how good Rosberg is. Maybe Rosberg in a Red Bull would beat all of them,” mused Ecclestone.

Nick Heidfeld has admitted he might be interested in working with BMW once again.

Between 2006 and last year, the German raced with the Bavarian carmaker in formula one.

At 33, he is now struggling to find a full-time cockpit for 2011, having tested with Pirelli this year and then completed the season with Sauber.

BMW is no longer in F1, but the marque is set to enter the German touring car series DTM in 2012.

“I have not finished my career in formula one, but working in the long term with BMW when they return to the DTM would be interesting,” Heidfeld admitted to Auto Bild.

BMW’s departing motor sport director Dr Mario Theissen indicated that the DTM team is seeking a driver of Heidfeld’s calibre.

“It will be important that we have a good development driver,” he admitted.

Jerome d’Ambrosio is on the verge of securing his formula one race debut.

The 24-year-old completed the 2010 season as Virgin’s Friday morning driver in the place of Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi.

Timo Glock is staying with the British team next year, and the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure and La Libre say d’Ambrosio will almost certainly be his teammate.

The reports said Virgin Racing approved the deal last week, and it must now be signed off by the team’s new Russian shareholder and title sponsor Marussia.

Confirmation is expected before Christmas, and d’Ambrosio admitted he is “confident”.

“I have done what I can, now I am waiting,” he added.

German Glock backed the delay in the confirmation of his 2011 teammate.

“I think it is right to take our time and make sure we have the best combination of youth and experience, plus the best information going back into the team at testing and races to ensure we can develop as quickly as we want to and keep moving forward,” he said.

Paul di Resta is even better than F1′s new world champion Sebastian Vettel.

That is the claim of triple Indycar title winner Dario Franchitti, who is Scot di Resta’s cousin.

Di Resta, 24, is on the cusp of his formula one debut, having secured the 2010 DTM title and forged a strong link with Force India by spending last season as reserve and Friday driver.

“He definitely has the skills,” 37-year-old Franchitti told Germany’s Sport Bild.

“He is one of the most talented drivers I’ve ever seen,” he added. “He beat Vettel in the Formula 3 Euro series (in 2006).

“Sebastian is a good driver, but Paul is better,” said Franchitti.

Di Resta told Motorsport-Magazin.com: “Sebastian and I have had some ding-dong encounters, and I hope and feel sure that we can continue this in the formula one arena.”

A 20-race calendar is too long for formula one, according to former FIA president Max Mosley.

2010′s tally of 19 races was the equal-biggest in the history of the sport, and next year the rally is growing to twenty rounds.

The USA and Russia are set to join possibly more additional grands prix in the near future, moving Sir Frank Williams to recently muse that he can envisage a 22-race schedule before long.

“For me personally, it’s too much,” Mosley told the German newspaper Welt.

“In my opinion that’s too many Sunday afternoons to expect people to dedicate to formula one. At some point, it starts to become tiresome.

“And then if you start skipping a race here and there it can quickly become a habit and it can snowball in terms of the TV ratings,” he added.

Mosley, whose successor as FIA president is the former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, is also worried that F1 team budgets are still far too high.

“In January 2008 I warned that without cost reduction it won’t be only the small teams having problems,” said the 70-year-old Briton.

“It has arrived: Honda, BMW, Toyota and Renault have gone because the budgets are out of proportion.

“This continues to be true and it worries me,” admitted Mosley.

“There is the risk of a crisis in the short term,” he insisted. “Currently, a great season is being celebrated but the future looks bleak.

“For 2011 you need $100 million, with 30 or 40 from Bernie Ecclestone, perhaps 20 to 25 from sponsors or the drivers. I’d say six teams are wondering where the rest is coming from.

“It’s quite possible we’ll lose two or three teams,” warned Mosley.

His final act as FIA president was to entice new privateers onto the grid with very small budgets, but Lotus, Virgin and HRT have been criticised for lacking competitiveness.

“I don’t agree,” said Mosley. “They need to be given time to improve.

“Virgin’s development has been downright revolutionary. Their car was built entirely without a wind tunnel and that’s a warning for the likes of McLaren because their wind tunnels are like running a small town.

“On the other hand Virgin developed a car only with computer simulation and it’s only two or three seconds slower.

“No one can argue that the huge cost of the wind tunnels is justified.”

Mosley said a quick fix to the looming crisis would be a budget cap for 2012 and 2013, requiring teams to tighten their belts immediately.

Timo Glock insists he is “100 per cent” likely to be staying with the Virgin team in 2011.

A few days ago, reports linked the 28-year-old German with Vitaly Petrov’s Renault seat and quoted him as saying it is only “99.9 per cent certain” he will be staying with Virgin even though he has a contract for next year.

But in a team interview published on Friday, Glock said he is “excited” about 2011.

“And yes I am definitely driving for Virgin,” said the former Toyota and Jordan driver.

“It is not just 99.9pc certain that I will stay, as has been reported — it is 100pc certain that I am staying. Since the beginning I have had a long-term contract with the team and I said then that I was doing this to help build a team for the future.”

Glock said the rumours about him being unhappy at Virgin are wide of the mark.

“There has been a lot of speculation about me wanting to leave, but it is not about leaving a team, it is about wanting to do better and keep moving forward,” he insisted.

“This is a great team of people who have given blood, sweat and tears to our first season. Some people haven’t seen that with their own eyes, like I have, so it’s easy to criticise or be cynical,” he added.

Glock’s 2010 teammate Lucas di Grassi is not yet confirmed for 2011. The Brazilian rookie wrote on Twitter that he has “nothing yet” for next season but is “confident”.

Glock said: “I don’t think we will have to wait too much longer for that news — hopefully before Christmas.”

On the market is Nico Hulkenberg, the solid 2010 rookie who has been ousted by Williams.

“I still do not have a new contract with another team, but that will hopefully change very soon. It looks well,” the 23-year-old German said on Friday.