Vitantonio Liuzzi has played down rumours Force India is planning to replace him at the end of the season.

Speculation swirled in the Singapore paddock two weeks ago that the Silverstone based team’s rookie ‘Friday’ driver Paul di Resta has secured a deal to move into a race cockpit in 2011.

On paper, Italian Liuzzi, 29, looks the most likely to make way for the Scot, having scored 34 fewer points so far in 2010 than his teammate Adrian Sutil.

But he wrote in his column for ESPNF1.com that if di Resta has in fact signed a deal to race in 2011, “that would mean that Adrian is out because I have a contract”.

“In a few weeks more information will come out, but I’m not worried by the speculation in the press in the meantime,” Liuzzi insisted.

German Sutil, 27, is highly regarded by Force India but has been linked with moves to Renault or Mercedes for 2011.

“We haven’t made any decisions yet on where we go,” the team’s operating officer Otmar Szafnauer, revealing that a decision is due in about a month, told the website of British magazine Autosport.

“I think we have got the luxury of being able to assess the situation and make a decision. But there is a seat available,” he admitted.

Bosses of the smaller formula one teams have confirmed they are unlikely to agree to relax the in-season testing ban for 2011.

McLaren and FOTA boss Martin Whitmarsh said this week that while the amount of winter running will be increased to six full tests, the smaller teams are happy with the total lack of in-season testing.

“I personally would like to see more testing but I am respectful of the fact that there are teams still hurting,” he said.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said a relaxation of the ban was discussed at a meeting last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, but the small teams are refusing to comply with the wishes of their more powerful rivals.

“Everyone’s in the same boat,” said Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer.

“Testing is only an advantage for those who can afford it. So it (the ban) is good for the sport, even if the big teams have to cope with the setbacks in the development process,” he added.

Michael Schumacher has scoffed at the current in-season ban by suggesting that formula one is the only major sport in the world that prohibits practice.

Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost hit back: “There is also no other sport in which a test kilometre costs between 700 and 1000 euros.”

Sauber has not decided whether or not to run KERS in 2011.

With the car weight limit increasing next year and the weight distribution to be fixed, Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer said this week that there is “no other option” than to use the energy recovery technology.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport had said that while the bigger teams are all planning to go with KERS, the new teams are almost certainly not.

And the publication said it is not clear if middle of the grid teams like Sauber and Toro Rosso will use KERS next year.

Hinwil based Sauber is still developing the C29, but work has also begun on the team’s 2011 car.

But technical director James Key said the KERS decision has not yet been taken. “It is certainly a possibility,” he said, “but we are still weighing it up and will decide later on.”

Team boss Peter Sauber said recently that Sauber will definitely not be using the system developed and raced in 2009 by former owner BMW because it is “air-cooled with far too many disadvantages”.

If Sauber was to opt for KERS in 2011, it is believed the team would buy a Magneti Marelli system for 1 million euros through customer engine supplier Ferrari.

Force India has become the latest team to commit to using KERS in 2011.

When the energy-recovery systems were first permitted by the technical regulations last year, the Silverstone based team opted not to use the technology.

But for 2011, the FOTA gentleman’s ban on the systems will lapse, and the efficiency of KERS will improve due to the increase in the minimum car/driver weight by 20kg.

Moreover, the interaction of KERS with the car’s weight distribution will also be negated in 2011, due to the introduction of a mandatory 46:54 ratio.

“There is no other option than to go with KERS,” Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

However, Auto Motor und Sport said it is not clear if independent teams Sauber and Toro Rosso will use KERS next year, adding that all three new teams will probably not race the systems.

Teams not developing their own KERS systems for 2011 will be able to buy a supply for 1 million euros, while a 5 million euro per team development cap applies.

Jun.16 (GMM)  The promise of more money motivated a swathe of key people to defect to Lotus.

That is the claim of Otmar Szafnauer, chief operating officer of the Force India team.

Shortly after Force India promoted Mark Smith to replace the Sauber-bound technical director James Key, Lotus announced that Smith will move to the new Malaysian-backed team next year.

Force India’s Lewis Butler (chief designer) and Marianne Hinson (head of aerodynamics) are also defecting to Lotus.

“Lotus has double the salary,” Szafnauer is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“So you either have to pay more or look for an alternative.”

Third in line after Key and Smith for Force India’s top technical job is reportedly Andy Green.

The Malayan ‘scuderia’, Force India has announced that the presentation of its new single-seater for the 2010 Formula One World Championship will take place next Tuesday through the Internet.  A day before the second period of collective testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit.

The new single-seater called ‘VJM03′ will be launched at 10.00 AM.  It seems that this year’s trend is to make presentations online; Virgin Racing will also launch its single-seater through Internet.

The car for the 2010 season has been created by a team led by the technical director, James Key and the design director, Mark Smith, and it will be the first one that is presented with Otmar Szafnauer as new operations chief.

Yesterday, Force India introduced its new test pilot, the DTM star, Paul di Resta, also assuming the position of reserve pilot for the 2010 season.