Red Bull insists the champagne is not yet on ice, but the team’s owner has already decided what present he will be giving Sebastian Vettel for winning the 2011 world championship.
“The same as last year,” Dietrich Mateschitz said in an interview this week with the German news agency DPA. “His championship-winning car.”

In 2010, when German Vettel became F1′s youngest ever title winner, Mateschitz delivered the Adrian Newey-inked RB6 to his home in Switzerland.

Red Bull’s team management are coy over the 24-year-old’s chances of wrapping up a second consecutive championship in Singapore this weekend, but billionaire Mateschitz is more honest.

“We anticipate that, once again, we will achieve both of the titles this year”, said the famously low-profile Austrian, 67.

He has high praise for Vettel, who enters this weekend’s Singapore night race with a lead so big that his only championship rivals have already given up the fight.

“The fact that Sebastian is highly capable, we knew,” said Mateschitz. “That he would be able to deliver it so consistently over a long time has surprised many people.”

Bild newspaper said Vettel’s championship present, the RB7 chassis that he has unofficially dubbed ‘Kinky Kylie’ – but minus a EUR 200,000 Renault engine – is worth almost a million euros.

“Slowly, his garage in Switzerland is becoming too small,” confirmed Red Bull driver manager Dr Helmut Marko.

So what does Vettel think about his championship present?

“I am not thinking about that because I haven’t won anything yet,” said the driver at Zurich airport before boarding a flight to Singapore.

Vettel told the German-language Eurosport that he is not counting on celebrating his second title this weekend.

“When it happens does not matter. As long as we are still first after the final race, that will be ok,” he said.

The RB7′s designer Newey insisted that Vettel will not be playing a points-counting game under the Singapore lights.

“Seb doesn’t want to cruise to the world championship, he really wants to earn it,” the Briton told The Sun newspaper.

Jenson Button loses world champion in the overall standings to fourth place in Singapore on the ground: “But it’s not over yet!”
McLaren is the big loser of the Singapore night. Silver Arrows, the British had to accept a pay freeze Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button made it with the MP4-25 just once in fourth. “It was not a loose race, but I had to do all the time pressure. It’s always sad when you give full throttle all the time and it still not enough for a podium finish,” said the reigning champion.

“At the beginning I have some spared the rear tires because we had noted on Friday that they do not keep so well. That gave me some help. In the final laps of the first stint I was therefore the gap on Lewis, because with him it looked like as if he had had problems with the tires, “said Button, who in the battle for third against Mark Webber had a chance.
“After the safety car period I was on the harder tire had problems with stability on the curves and output. I could not even keep up with the Red Bull, who had 30 laps on the tires on the clock,” reports the British McLaren on the issues. “This shows how fast the were and it shows that it was not an easy race for us.”

“The race was otherwise perfect for me, everything was simply not the pit stop was perfect -.. Probably the best all year, but the balance just does not fit,” said Button. “Our car was not as good here as expected. In qualifying we can get the best, but in the race it was really hard.”
“We hope so on the new parts of Japan. They were supposed to arrive in Singapore to the car, but it happened for reasons of reliability not. In Suzuka, we will hopefully have a competitive car,” says the 30-year-old. Positive the view is now ahead: “Suzuka should suit our car better to eat well for us, Singapore was the most difficult of the routes in the final stage..”

In the overall standings button is now only a fifth, 25 points behind leader Webber. “I’m still in the process,” the British fighting spirit. “Too bad that Mark Webber was able to land before us. But we are at points just from a racing game. It is up to the last race still everything is possible. I wish back the old points system. Then we could better see how close all lie together. ”

“You have to think positive but at this stage of the season,” said Button. “Lewis had today in the duel with Webber pitch. I do not know exactly what happened there. I have only seen that Webber has him forced out clearly. One bad race can be very cost much. My points of today are important, but actually would have to stand on the podium. “

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg drove a little off the Singapore spotlight on a strong fifth place, “More was not today”
While in the lit canyons of Singapore some incidents, especially the duel between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were in focus, Nico Rosberg went almost unnoticed a strong Grand Prix. The 25-year-old took fifth in ten major points for Mercedes, Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, went away empty-handed.

“It was definitely a great race,” says Rosberg satisfied. “I had a great start, just as hoped I was able to keep pace at the start with Jenson, from behind made Kubica some pressure but that was not a big problem I have benefited from the fact that Lewis retired Fifth Place -…. Better it did not work today. ”
Start from seventh place to Rosberg worked relatively simply from the Singapore night. It’s always hard. While it was in previous times more exhausting, but it is always hard. That’s always the toughest race. Fortunately, I had in the last 30 laps no pressure. If I’d have to push to the end , then it would not have been easy. ”

“I had to save the brakes. I was in the end, brake problems, but others might be more,” says the native of Wiesbaden. “Mercedes has certainly made a little progress, but there is still immense.” In the overall standings, Rosberg after the Singapore weekend now 122 points. It is therefore only three points behind Felipe Massa.

Sunday at Monza was Pedro de la Rosa’s last grand prix with the Sauber team in 2010, according to a Swiss report.

The Blick newspaper, with close links to the Hinwil based team’s chief Peter Sauber, said Nick Heidfeld will definitely be driving the Ferrari-powered C29 from now on, starting with the Singapore night race in two weeks.

The news will almost certainly result in Nick Heidfeld, who this year was formerly Mercedes’ reserve driver, relinquishing his new role as test driver for the 2011 tyre supplier Pirelli.

It will be the third Sauber tenure for German Heidfeld, 33, who also drove for the Swiss team in 2000-2003 and 2006-2009.

“This makes sense,” wrote veteran Blick correspondent Roger Benoit, “because Sauber wants to make up the 20 point arrears to Williams, in order to finish the world championship in seventh position.”

Compared with rookie teammate Kamui Kobayashi’s 21 points, long-time McLaren test driver de la Rosa has scored just 6 points on his return to the F1 grid this season.