Sebastian Vettel’s home town is planning a big celebration in the event that he is crowned world champion on Sunday.

Heppenheim town officials are holding off on finalising the plans, but organiser Adi Doersam told the DPA news agency that a motorcade could take place.

“It is possible, I am positive,” he said.

In reality, German Vettel’s championship chances are relatively slim. If he wins in Abu Dhabi, Fernando Alonso must finish in fifth or worse for him to be champion.

And if Vettel finishes second on Sunday, Alonso would have to be ninth, and teammate Mark Webber fifth, for the 23-year-old German to win his first title.

Christian Horner hopes Sebastian Vettel’s engine situation does not further dent his championship chances.

The Red Bull driver retired from the lead of the Korean grand prix last Sunday with a sudden and catastrophic failure of his Renault engine.

The 2.4 litre V8 unit that failed was the eighth he has used in races so far in 2010, but it had successfully completed 1600km of its projected life of 2000km.

But the other engines still available to the German are also quite high on mileage, which explains why Vettel did relatively few laps in practice last weekend.

“It’s obviously not an ideal situation,” team boss Horner said when asked about Vettel’s engine situation going forward.

“Hopefully it will have a negligible effect on him,” he added.

Jenson Button has indicated he will not fall in line behind his McLaren teammate until his championship chances are “mathematically” over.

The reigning world champion fell 42 points off Fernando Alonso’s new title lead in Korea on Sunday; 21 points shy of his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton’s tally.

Immediately after the race, 30-year-old Button – when asked about his fading chances of defending his title – admitted he is “not really” still able to win the championship.

But later, he told the BBC that his comments had been made “in the heat of the moment”, adding that he is confident he “won’t be asked” by his bosses to play a number 2 role.

“I don’t stand by that (statement) now,” he said, referring to when he earlier wrote off his championship chances.

“You don’t win world championships by conceding defeat before it is all over. You have seen today how things can change,” insisted Button.

With the two wins in Brazil and Abu Dhabi worth potentially 50 points in total, Button’s 42-point deficit means that he is still mathematically able to win in 2010.

“If mathematically I couldn’t win the championship then, yes, I would help Lewis,” he said.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said after the race that he thought Button would “voluntarily” back Hamilton’s championship push.

Asked if there was a role McLaren could play in the strategy, he answered: “We will think about that and talk about it before we get to Brazil.

“We’re going away still very much in contention with Lewis and two really interesting races ahead … it’s still wide open,” he added.

Spanish newspapers on Sunday noted that, for example in the event of another DNF for Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso could in theory wrap up the world championship in Brazil next month.

Lewis Hamilton’s bad weekend at Suzuka and fading championship chances got even worse on Saturday night.

The 2008 world champion learned he will have to move five places down the grid, whose order will be determined by an unusual Sunday morning qualifying session.

McLaren confirmed it detected “abnormal gearbox oil pressure” on Hamilton’s MP4-25 during the Saturday morning practice session.

“As we fired up Lewis’s car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we’d originally diagnosed,” a team spokesman, revealing that the gearbox had to be changed out of sequence, said.

Lewis Hamilton kicked off his weekend at Suzuka with a crash.

With big rain clouds reportedly on the horizon, the McLaren driver lost valuable dry track time at the Japanese circuit on Friday morning.

Repeating a common error by F1 drivers at Suzuka, Briton Hamilton ran wide at Degner and hit the barriers at the other side of the notoriously small gravel trap.

It caused big damage to the left side of his MP4-25, but arguably bigger damage in the eyes of the media, after promising reporters on Thursday that he would be pushing hard after crashing out of the last two grands prix.

The Daily Express headline read “Hamilton will not go easy”, the Guardian said the 2008 champion had vowed “to go hell for leather” at Suzuka, and the Daily Mail said he pledged to “go over the edge” this weekend.

Indeed, the 25-year-old had insisted he would maintain his aggressive style even though two consecutive crashes at Monza and Singapore have dented his championship chances.

“If you are walking down the street and you keep tripping over the sole of your shoe because it keeps flapping, then you change your shoe,” said Hamilton on Thursday.

“I haven’t got anything that is flapping off.”

Former F1 driver BBC radio commentator Anthony Davidson said Hamilton’s practice crash is a setback that he will recover from.

“It’s not a great position to be in,” he said.  “Lewis has to get himself out of this downward spiral.  As a racing driver you can get yourself worked up and it can become a vicious circle.

“But he’s made mistakes like this before and he’s picked himself up.  I am sure he will do that again.”

McLaren reserve driver Gary Paffett added: “It’s not the best thing to do because obviously you lose dry testing time but Lewis looked pretty fast before he crashed and he’ll be encouraged by that.”

Red Bull’s dominance has been curbed because it is no longer fielding an illegal car, according to Lewis Hamilton.

The 2008 world champion said that after the team’s RB6 utterly dominated in Hungary in August, the tighter FIA flexibility tests have obviously affected the pace of the Adrian Newey-penned car.

“Good question,” McLaren driver Hamilton told Bild newspaper on a visit to Berlin this week.

“In Hungary they were 2 seconds per lap faster than the rest of us.  It is simply impossible to have a lead like that.”

When asked specifically if he thinks Red Bull were cheating earlier in 2010, Hamilton answered: “We have always kept to the rules.

“Our people wondered if their car was legal and we asked the FIA.  After that Red Bull had to rebuild their car and take a step back.

“It was a good decision by the FIA,” said the Briton.

He was also asked about the apparent psychological warfare being deployed by his championship rivals at present, particularly by his former McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso.

“It’s normal that, at the end of a season, the mind games begin.  I’m strong enough and ready for it.  I’m not worried, but I think it’s best if you just do your talking on the track,” said Hamilton.

And despite almost writing off his championship chances after Singapore, Hamilton now insists he is ready for the challenge of the final four races of 2010.

“I was back at home in Zurich for one day; I woke up in the morning and went for a run in the forest with rap music on my headphones.  So I’ll be back,” he insisted.

Felipe Massa furrowed his brow in Singapore when an Italian journalist dared to ask about the health of his world championship chances.

Brazilian Massa is mathematically still in the title chase, but the media is billing 2010 as a five-way contest between his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull and McLaren drivers.

29-year-old Massa is increasingly seen as a bit-part to number 1 Alonso’s push.

So when asked by the Italian journalist about his chances, Massa angrily reacted: “On some questions, you could probably think of the answer.

“But I will say it again.  The world championship for me is over.”

Massa started from the rear of the grid in Singapore due to a gearbox failure in qualifying, but Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio was unimpressed with his performance under the floodlights.

“He stayed behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams most of the time,” he wrote in his column for Jornal da Tarde.  “But Massa has the same car as (race winner) Alonso.

“Ferrari can be accused of having team orders, but not of giving its two drivers different cars.

“Alonso proved that the car is very fast.  But we didn’t see a single attempt from Massa to overtake his opponent, even when his tyres were new.

“What we’re seeing is a disproportionate difference in competence between the two Ferrari drivers,” charged Oricchio.

The press was also hard on Lewis Hamilton, who for the second race in a row retired due to a collision.  The Mirror said: “Lew blew it … again”.

But Hamilton vowed to stay aggressive.

“It’s the way I am,” he said in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.  “That’s me, and I think this aggression is my main strength.”

Fernando Alonso insists he is not worried about his engine situation with five races still to run in 2010.

Ferrari is pushing ahead with the Spaniard’s championship chances, but at Monza two weeks ago he began using his eighth V8 unit for the season.

FIA rules state that if a driver uses a ninth engine during the season, he must move ten places down the qualifying grid — a situation that would seriously affect Alonso’s aim to recover his 21 point deficit to Mark Webber.

But he said: “There is no reason to worry about engine problems, because our (other) engines can also be used more.

“And there are no other tracks where we are on the throttle for most of the lap,” Alonso is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo.

It is believed that, this weekend in Singapore, Alonso will use the engine he raced recently at Spa-Francorchamps.

“It is a street circuit, where the engines are less important,” noted team boss Stefano Domenicali.

McLaren’s chief engineer Phil Prew believes Ferrari when the Italian team says it is not overly worried about engine usage.

“I think it will only affect their Friday running, in terms of running used engines on the Friday,” he told reporters during Wednesday’s Vodafone teleconference.

“Sadly I don’t think that will give us any advantage over them,” added Prew.

With five races to go, Sebastian Vettel is not giving up on winning the 2010 world championship.

His teammate Mark Webber is 24 points further ahead and narrowly leading the drivers’ standings over Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko hinted recently that the team should sit down after Monza to assess its championship chances, amid light pressure from Webber to be appointed number 1.

But Vettel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper: “We are not panicking. We are quietly doing our work.

“I believe in the title — that is the most important thing. It will be very close in the finale, but I’m optimistic,” said the German.

He dismissed the argument that his 24 point deficit to Webber is insurmountable.

“Whether it’s 24, 25 or 30, it doesn’t matter,” said Vettel, 23.

“The new points system worries people more than it should. Now there are 25 points for a win, so under the familiar (old) system, I’d only be 8 or 9 points behind.

“Then it would seem much less dramatic,” he insisted.

Australian Webber, however, is open to having Vettel relegated to a supporting role for the final run to the 2010 finish-line.

“It would be a nice problem for me to have and then it’s up to the team as to what’s the best way for them to win the championships,” he said in an interview with BBC Sport.

“It’s definitely not for me to answer that one,” said the 34-year-old.

McLaren’s Hamilton, however – just 5 points behind Webber’s lead and 17 in front of his teammate Jenson Button – is not expecting to be favoured by McLaren.

“The best driver will win the day,” said the 2008 world champion.

Mark Webber has played down suggestions he is asking for his teammate Sebastian Vettel to play a supporting role for the rest of 2010.

At Spa-Francorchamps recently, the Australian suggested that with a growing points gap to his teammate, the time might be nearing for Red Bull to appoint a number one, depending on “how hungry they are”.

Team consultant Helmut Marko then admitted Red Bull will “sit down all together” and “assess our championship chances” after Monza, where the points gap between the drivers became 24 with five races to go.

But Vettel sounded unimpressed at the prospect of a supporting role, insisting that “team orders are banned”.

Webber manager Flavio Briatore’s view is strident, insisting that maintaining parity between the pair is what Red Bull should do “if they don’t want to win the championship”.

Spain’s Diario Sport now quotes Webber as saying: “Help from Vettel? It depends on the team.

“Rest assured I have not asked for anything. It’s the same at McLaren,” said the 34-year-old championship leader.

Sebastian Vettel has rebuked his teammate’s suggestion that the time is nearing for Red Bull to choose a number 1 driver.

Mark Webber, just 3 points off the championship lead with six races to go, is 28 points clear of Vettel in the drivers’ standings.

After finishing second at Spa two weeks ago, the Australian suggested that Red Bull might be wise to favour him if the team wants to win the 2010 title.

But German Vettel, 23, hit back at that plan in an email interview with the Associated Press published on Thursday.

“For a driver this makes no sense — you don’t give up trying to win the championship until it’s mathematically impossible,” he said.

“For the team it makes no sense to favour one if that means penalising the other because you need both drivers scoring maximum points to win the constructors’ championship,” added Vettel.

“With two drivers close in the championship it is too dangerous to choose.”

The bad news for Vettel is that even Dr Helmut Marko, who is thought to get along with the young German more than with Webber, can see that it is in Red Bull’s interests to eventually back the driver with the best championship prospects.

“After Monza we will sit down all together and assess our championship chances,” the team consultant is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

Ferrari race drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will address Wednesday’s FIA disciplinary hearing by video link.

It emerged last week that the pair, accused of obeying illegal team orders by swapping places at Hockenheim in July, had been summoned to the World Motor Sport Council session in Paris.

Reports indicated that the pair may appear in person or by video, probably from a location within Italy.

An article in the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, confirmed by the Maranello based team, said Alonso and Massa will be available to the FIA by video.

After Wednesday’s hearing, it is expected the verdict will be published later that day.

Team boss Domenicali and team manager Massimo Rivola, alongside the obligatory lawyers, are slated to be in attendance at the Place de la Concorde.

Alonso’s world championship chances are riding on the outcome, given his already 41 point deficit to leader Lewis Hamilton.

Should his Hockenheim points be deducted as a further penalty by the World Council, the Spaniard’s deficit – with six races left to run – would blow out to 70 points, because other championship contenders also stand to benefit.

Giorgio Beghella Bartoli, director of the Italian grand prix venue Monza, thinks Ferrari should escape sanction.

“As for the (team orders) regulation, an instruction (at Hockenheim) was not there,” he is quoted in Italian reports.

“Because an engineer (Rob Smedley) said ‘sorry’?  What kind of proof is that?” he insisted.

Livio Oricchio, an authoritative Brazilian journalist, went a step further, urging the FIA to scrap the team orders ban altogether.

“There is no way to control them.  Ending the ban respects the truth, therefore the fan.  And, as paradoxically as it may seem, the sport.

“On some occasions, the outcome of a race has been decided within a team and few people knew about it,” he wrote in his column in the Jornal da Tarde.

Martin Whitmarsh was highly critical of Sebastian Vettel after Sunday’s Belgian grand prix.

Vettel, 23, lost control of his Red Bull at Spa-Francorchamps whilst attempting an overtaking move and took out McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Earlier, McLaren team boss Whitmarsh admitted he thought the German “got off lightly” with a drive-through penalty.

“Sebastian is an exceptional and very fast driver,” he is quoted by German media.

“But he makes a habit of colliding with other drivers.  Jenson was in a strong position and it hasn’t only damaged his world championship chances but it’s also bad for our team,” added Whitmarsh.

“A mistake like that is something you usually only see in junior formulas, not in formula one.  He is a likeable guy and we know we didn’t do it on purpose.

“He’s developing.  But when you’re fighting for the title, this sort of thing is not easy.  It affects not only him but also those around him,” said Whitmarsh.

“I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from this but it hasn’t happened only today.”

The comments come at the end of the flexible front wing saga, where Whitmarsh was among the loudest critics of Red Bull’s RB6 car.

Red Bull’s Christian Horner admitted Spa was “not a great weekend” for the team’s young driver but said Button also contributed to the incident.

“I think Jenson took him by surprise with how early he braked for the bus-stop and (Vettel) tried to avoid him,” said the Briton.