Pastor Maldonado has hinted that “important news” about his future could be forthcoming this week.

Last week, after testing with both the Williams and HRT teams, the new GP2 champion refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 race debut in 2011.

Oxfordshire based Williams has cleared a race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said last Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

25-year-old Maldonado wrote on Twitter: “This week could be very important and I hope to have news about the future.”

Maldonado, who is backed by the Venezuelan government and state-owned petroleum company PDVSA, told F1′s official website last week: “If you win the GP2 championship you definitely hope that formula one is the next logical step.”

Pastor Maldonado has refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 debut with the Williams team in 2011.

In Abu Dhabi this week, the new GP2 champion has been testing both with Williams as well as HRT, the Spanish team that will use a gearbox supplied by Oxfordshire based Williams next year.

Williams has cleared a 2011 race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said on Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

It is assumed that Williams has signed Maldonado because it needs his financial backing provided by the Venezuelan government and the petroleum company PDVSA.

But Maldonado is quoted by F1′s official website: “At the moment, no comment on that.”

The price-tag for a one-day ‘young driver test’ with the HRT team next week is EUR 200,000, according to Finland’s Turun Sanomat.

HRT’s other test seat for the post-season sessions at Abu Dhabi has been filled by Pastor Maldonado, the new GP2 champion who is reportedly backed to the tune of EUR 15 million by the Venezuelen petroleum company PDVSA.

Meanwhile, according to French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet in his Auto Plus column, Tony Fernandes is open to dropping the ‘Lotus’ name for 2011 if he is paid out by Group Lotus or the Malaysian government.

HRT on Monday announced that Pastor Maldonado will test with the Spanish team on three of the four forthcoming test days in Abu Dhabi.

The news follows reports the 2010 GP2 champion, who is substantially backed by the Venezuelan petroleum company PDVSA, is close to agreeing to race in 2011 with HRT’s new gearbox supplier Williams.

It has already been announced that Maldonado will test the Williams on the remaining day of the tests after next Sunday’s season finale.

Earlier, it was rumoured that Williams’ Finnish test driver Valtteri Bottas, and possibly even Nico Hulkenberg, might be among other candidates to test with HRT in Abu Dhabi.

Hulkenberg, however, is no longer a candidate, given that Maldonado has been scheduled for the whole of the Pirelli test on 19-20 November.

The 23-year-old German is not eligible to test on the young driver days.

Adrian Sutil on Thursday confirmed reports he looks set to stay another season with Force India in 2011.

The German had flirted with moves to Renault or Williams but admitted at Interlagos that he is now leaning towards signing a new deal with his long-time employer.

“The tendency is to (stay at) Force India,” Sutil is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“We are currently in close talks. I am definitely ready to stay here for another year. The trend is with this team, but it’s not signed yet,” he added.

Sutil said it will take at least another two weeks before the deal is sealed.

“The final decision won’t be made until after the season unfortunately,” he revealed. “I would have wanted it sooner, but it didn’t happen.”

The news is a blow for Nick Heidfeld, who had hoped to move to Force India. The Silverstone based team already has a contract for 2011 with Vitantonio Liuzzi.

“If Sutil is staying there, probably I have no chance with Force India,” confirmed Heidfeld, who is being replaced at Sauber by the Telmex-backed rookie Sergio Perez.

There might be a vacancy at Renault, but the Enstone based team is thought likely to re-sign its well-funded Vitaly Petrov.

Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg’s place at Williams is under threat by the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who is backed by state petroleum company PDVSA.

Sir Frank Williams last week spoke highly of Hulkenberg, but the young German pointed out that “with praise I can buy nothing”.

“Williams have told me that there is still a chance (of staying in 2011),” added Hulkenberg.

He is disappointed at the thought of being ousted by his GP2 teammate of 2009.

“In qualifying, I beat him I think 10-0,” noted Hulkenberg.

The latest rumour in formula one is that Rubens Barrichello’s longest-ever grand prix career could be set to end after the 2010 finale next month.

German rookie Nico Hulkenberg admitted in Korea that he was concerned about speculation linking the Venezuelan pay-driver and new GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado with his Williams race seat.

But a report in Auto Motor und Sport reveals that the Oxfordshire based team actually does not intend to confirm either Hulkenberg or his current teammate, the Brazilian veteran Barrichello, until the winter period.

The reason for the delay is Williams’ sponsor situation, with current backers RBS, Philips, AirAsia and McGregor all departing.

Maldonado carries a reported US $15 million in the sponsorship of state-owned petroleum company PDVSA, and the latest rumour is that Williams has not yet decided whether Hulkenberg or Barrichello is the most likely to potentially make room for the 25-year-old.

The rumour about 39-year-old Barrichello was triggered when Patrick Head, Williams’ engineering boss and the team’s second biggest shareholder, said Hulkenberg had done enough in 2010 to justify his seat.

“I think Nico has done enough, both before he entered F1 and since being in F1, to support the view that he is a justified driver,” said the Briton in Korea last weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg’s manager has played down suggestions the young German will definitely lose his race seat at Williams at the end of the season.

The British team on Monday seemed to confirm speculation it is considering replacing the 2009 GP2 champion with the feeder series’ new title winner, Pastor Maldonado.

Venezuelan Maldonado, 25, is heavily backed by the state owned petroleum company PDVSA, and Williams co-owner Patrick Head in Korea admitted that economic factors would influence the board’s driver decision for 2011.

In a media statement, the Oxfordshire based team announced that Maldonado will test the FW32 in the post-season Abu Dhabi ‘young driver’ session next month.

And he is not in contention for merely the team’s 2011 test seat, because Finn Valtteri Bottas “will remain” in that post next year, Williams said.

Maldonado said last month that he hoped to secure a deal for his 2011 debut “before the race in Abu Dhabi, so I can participate in the tests there after the GP with my new team”.

But Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber insists his rookie charge is still in the reckoning at Williams.

“Nico is not ‘out’ already, as has been speculated,” he told the German news agency DPA.

“The talks with Williams are continuing, but there are obviously alternatives,” added Weber.

“Williams is the first choice and we would love to stay, but it is extremely important that Nico has a race cockpit in formula one for 2011,” he said.

Interestingly, Weber seemed to acknowledge the legitimacy of Williams’ apparent reconsideration of Hulkenberg’s place at the team.

“(Chairman) Adam Parr has a great responsibility to hundreds of employees and as the highest priority he must consider the welfare of the team,” he said.

Pastor Maldonado has signed a deal to race alongside Rubens Barrichello at Williams in 2011.

That is the claim of Warm Up, the electronic version of Brazil’s Grande Premio publication.

The report said Maldonado, the new GP2 champion, will replace Nico Hulkenberg.

The 25-year-old Venezuelan reportedly inked the contract in the second week of October in Caracas, in the presence of a top official of the Grove based team and Maldonado’s sponsor PDVSA, the state-owned petroleum company.

The report said Williams essentially had no choice, amid the prospect of losing four main sponsors – RBS, Philips, AirAsia and McGregor – at the end of the current season.

PDVSA will reportedly pay EUR 15 million for Maldonado’s seat.

Williams has been contacted for comment.