FORMULA 1 - 2010

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Massa ends first Pirelli outing on top

Felipe Massa had an impressive run in Pirelli's first official F1 test, beating his qualifying time from last weekend's Abu Dhabi GP.

The F1 teams were given special dispensation to hold a two-day test at the Yas Marina circuit as they prepare for the swap from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres for next year's Championship.

The morning session saw newly-crowned F1 World Champ Sebastian Vettel set the pace ahead of Massa, but despite shaving tenths off his time during the afternoon session, the Red Bull racer was eventually pipped to the post by Massa.

The Ferrari driver clocked a 1:40.170 to set the pace on Friday. But perhaps more importantly was the fact that his Pirelli time was quicker than his qualifying time at the same circuit last Saturday on Bridgestone tyres.

Vettel finished the day in second place ahead of McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, who earlier stated that the Pirelli rubber was "not too different from Bridgestone."

Fourth place went to Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, who edged out Robert Kubica, who had a few problems that kept him down to 39 laps throughout the course of the day.

Renault's chief engineer Alan Permane said his first impression of the Pirelli rubber, having used both the medium and soft on Friday, was positve.

"We had our first taste of Pirelli tyres today and were able to run both the medium and soft compounds," said Permane.

"The morning went well and Robert was reasonably happy with the car balance, although we made a few changes during the day to improve it.

"Our initial impression of the tyres has been positive: they were working well with good grip and no warm-up issues.

"Unfortunately we had to stop early because we had a mechanical issue with the car and we preferred to save the tyres for tomorrow when we've rectified the problem."

Rubens Barrichello, Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari were next in line.

The only other major incident during the day belonged to Adrian Sutil. The Force India driver's VJM broke down out on track during the morning session, keeping him down to just 20 laps.

However, it also affected Force India test driver Paul di Resta, who spent the bulk of the afternoon session waiting for the team to get back out on track. The Scot completed only 15 laps and finished at the back of the timesheets.

Testing will continue at the Yas Marina circuit on Saturday.

Times

01. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.170s 94 laps

02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m40.500s 77 laps

03. Gary Paffett McLaren 1m40.874s 94 laps

04. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m40.950s 83 laps

05. Robert Kubica Renault 1m41.032s 39 laps

06. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1m41.425s 91 laps

07. Paul di Resta Force India 1m41.615s 20 laps

08. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m41.778s 81 laps

09. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m42.019s 71 laps

10. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m42.859s 20 laps

11. Timo Glock Virgin 1m44.124s 78 laps

12. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1m44.686s 88 laps

13. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1m45.728s 83 laps

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Massa 'at ease' with Pirelli tyres

Felipe Massa immediately felt comfortable with the new Pirelli tyres during Friday's test in Abu Dhabi, saying were "no unpleasant surprises."

The Brazilian was in action on the first day of testing at the Yas Marina circuit, completing 94 laps with a best time of 1:40.170.

That was good enough to put him at the top of the timesheets and was also 0.032s quicker than his qualifying time from last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"It was a positive start to begin to understand the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres," Massa said. "I felt at ease right from the start and there were no unpleasant surprises.

"We tried two different types and acquired a lot of data which will be useful for the Italian company to develop the tyres still further for the start of the 2011 season: on the hards, there were some difficulties over a long run while the softs worked well both on the very first lap and also after they had done a larger number of laps."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali added: "I wish to take this opportunity to welcome back Pirelli to Formula 1.

"It is nice to see two symbols of Italian excellence together on track. I am sure that Pirelli will make a very important contribution to our sport in terms of professionalism and technical research."

Fernando Alonso will replace Massa for Saturday's running at the Yas Marina circuit.

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Rosberg: Pirelli's slower & degrade faster

Nico Rosberg fears the new Pirelli tyres will not help Mercedes GP with their lack of front-end grip - in fact, "it's worse".

Merc GP struggled with front-tyre grip this season, citing it as one of the reasons behind Michael Schumacher's slow comeback.

The seven-time World Champ's team-mate Rosberg also battled with it and had hoped that the new Pirelli tyres, which will be used in next year's Championship, would put an end to the problem. They haven't.

"It's worse," he told Autosport.

"So that's not a good thing for me. I'll cope with it - I've adapted in the past years so I'll manage. They are at least similar (to Bridgestone) or worse."

Rosberg added that, after the first day of testing at the Yas Marina circuit, he believes the Pirelli rubber is slower than the Bridgestone tyres.

"The general impressions are that they are slower, for one. Quite significantly slower," he said.

"After that, they were not easy to come to terms with on the set-up. In the big picture, they are pretty similar in the end to the Bridgestones, but if you are then looking for the fine tuning to extract the performance there is some way to go on adapting the set-up.

"At the moment, we have done the small things that you can do at the track but there are the bigger things that you need to take care of with the car development. That's going to be one of the areas that are very important for success for next year."

Added to that, the German says they also degrade faster than the Bridgestones, which may not be a bad thing.

"If that's what they want and it's the same for everybody, then okay," he said. "Tyres like that always give more exciting racing as well. So it's not necessarily a bad thing."

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Vettel: The tyres behaved well

Sebastian Vettel had no complaints about the Pirelli rubber despite suffering a failure late in Friday's first day of running.

The Formula One teams were in action at the Yas Marina circuit on Friday for the start of a two-day test. It was also the beginning of their relationship with Pirelli, who are replacing Bridgestone as F1's tyre supplier.

Vettel completed 77 laps on Friday with a best time of 1:40.500, which put him second on the timesheets behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

"It was all about the tyres, as this was the first chance we have had to try them out and work with them to develop the car's set-up for next year," said the Red Bull driver.

"I think the tyres behaved well, better than expected given the short amount of time Pirelli have had and they've done a good job.

"Pirelli are obviously in the middle of their development and what we used today is not what we will race with, but it was a good start."

Friday's action was Vettel's first outing as Formula One's newly-crowned Champion after a hectic week of celebratory engagements.

"It was great to be back in the car after an incredible week - I went to Salzburg on Monday morning for a TV show and press conference and then to the UK to say thanks to the team in Milton Keynes - that was quite emotional.

"It's nice for me and the team to be able to enjoy our success, but 2011 started today and I was focusing on the tyres and getting to know them - I think we have learned quite a lot."

Vettel, however, did suffer a tyre failure late in the day, which Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery believes was caused by debris on the track.

"We had an instant deflation right at the end of the day coming up to Turn 11," Hembery said.

"In general, the track is quite dirty after six days of running and there's a lot of debris on the track. We were starting to notice some cuts on the rear tyres.

"It's nothing untoward - we just want to find out what's causing it."

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Alonso tops the morning session

Fernando Alonso took over from Felipe Massa at the Yas Marina circuit on Saturday, topping the timesheets at lunch on Day Two of the Pirelli test.

With the Formula One teams getting their first taste of the new Pirelli rubber in Abu Dhabi over a two-day period, Ferrari opted to run both Massa and Alonso, giving them each a day's working.

Massa was in action on Friday, setting the pace with a 1:40.170, before handing over to Alonso on Saturday morning. The Spaniard continued Ferrari's fun, clocking a 1:40.529 to beat Sebastian Vettel to the P1 slot by 0.296s.

However, Vettel's run was reportedly cut short when the new World Champ suffered another tyre failure, the cause of which is believed to be debris on the circuit. He completed just 13 laps.

Rubens Barrichello was next in line for Williams, finishing ahead of Paul di Restam, whose running was kept to just 13 laps as he broke down out on track an hour before the lunch break, bringing out the red flags.

McLaren test driver Oliver Turvey and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi were fifth and sixth while Michael Schumacher replaced Nico Rosberg, finishing 1.632s off the pace.

Robert Kubica, who covered 47 laps on Saturday morning, completed the top eight.

Times

01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m40.529s 47 laps

02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m40.825s 28 laps

03. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1m41.294s 52 laps

04. Paul di Resta Force India 1m41.869s 35 laps

05. Oliver Turvey McLaren 1m42.046s 29 laps

06. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m42.110s 43 laps

07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m42.161s 30 laps

08. Robert Kubica Renault 1m42.178s 47 laps

09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1m42.399s 46 laps

10. Jarno Trulli Lotus 1m44.839s 44 laps

11. Timo Glock Virgin 1m45.405s 37 laps

12. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1m45.516s 27 laps

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Williams wants Qatar added to the mix

Sir Frank Williams says he would like to see a Formula One race hosted in Qatar in the not-too-distant future.

At present, Qatar hosts a round of the MotoGP Championship, the season-opener, however, the Middle Eastern country is keen to join the Formula One fraternity.

And one team boss who would support the country's arrival is Williams, whose F1 team has a technology centre in Qatar.

"I would love to see a race in Qatar because of our involvement here," he told the Gulf Times.

"In my humble opinion, the Losail circuit is admirably suited for an F1 race."

Williams also revealed that he's in favour of the F1 calendar being extended beyond next year's 20 grands prix.

"I would love to see more races, but I don't think we could ever have more than 22 without compromising the preparations and driver safety."

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Vettel dreams of a Ferrari or Merc drive

New F1 Champ Sebastian Vettel says he still has a long road to travel to be mentioned in the same breath as seven-time titleholder Michael Schumacher.

Last Sunday, Vettel became at 23 the youngest ever driver to claim the F1 crown to add further weight to the claims by his fans that he is the next Schumacher.

But 'Baby-Schumi' as Vettel is known, told the Bild newspaper: "I don't compare his career and his life with mine, he's a legend and I'm only at the start."

The Red Bull driver added that he was now intent on defending his title with his team in 2011.

"We have in this team something decisive for success in F1 - good people in the right jobs."

While a Red Bull man through and through for now Vettel spoke about the lure of an eventual move to Ferrari or Mercedes.

"Ferrari and Mercedes represent the history, the present and certainly the future of Formula One. Every driver dreams of Ferrari or Mercedes.

"But to drive for these teams depends on a number of factors, everything has to fall into place, to be a myth isn't sufficient. But all that is a long way off for me...

"Next, I will defend the title with Red Bull. We have something that in F1 is crucial for success: the right people in the right place."

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Kubica: Satisfied despite 'some understeer'

With 91 laps under his belt on Saturday, Robert Kubica was satisfied with his second day of running on the 2011 Pirelli tyres.

The Renault driver was back in action at the Yas Marina circuit on Saturday, for the second and final day of the Pirelli test.

Completing 91 laps with a best time of 1::41.614, Kubica was not able to match his fastest lap from Day One, however, insisted he had no complaints.

"It has been quite a productive day and it's good to complete so many laps on the new tyres," said the Renault driver. "Like yesterday we ran with both compounds and collected a lot of data, which will be useful for us and for Pirelli as well.

"Overall it has been a positive couple of days and now we have to try and extract as many conclusions as we can from the data. My initial feeling is good and it seemed that the tyres got better as the track conditions improved throughout the day."

However, Renault's chief engineer Alan Permane revealed that Kubica suffered with a bit of understeer, the cause of which Renault were not able to get a handle on.

"We've had a second useful day on the Pirelli tyres and managed to complete medium length runs on both the soft and medium compounds without any significant issues. This allowed us to start understanding the tyre characteristics and assess the degradation rates," he said.

"We struggled with some understeer today, which we never totally got rid of, so we still need to try and understand that."

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Schumi feeling 'positive' after first step

Michael Schumacher insists it's too early to judge whether the Pirelli tyres will help him in his quest to return to the front of the F1 grid.

Schumacher's comeback season was dogged by tyre issues with both the German and his Mercedes GP team saying he was hampered by a lack of front-end grip.

There are, however, hopes that the new Pirelli tyres, which Schumacher tested for the first time in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, will alleviate the problem.

And there were positive signs with the seven-time World Champion finished Saturday's running in second place, 0.156s behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. However, he was later stripped of the time, dropping to P7, after he was deemed to have cut a chicane.

Schumacher says it is still too early to tell whether the tyres will suit him, although he was satisfied with the initial results.

"They have a very different combination," he told Autosport when asked if the Pirelli tyres were better suited to his driving.

"Whether you can say the front tyre is now stronger and that's going to suit my style, what is very important is how next year's car is going to suit these tyres. That's very important.

"But for the first step, from what we have seen here, I feel positive about the tyres."

He added: "I was quite happy with the first test. A lot of positive feedback so we can now start to do the detailed work on the car.

"The tyres performed reasonably consistently and were good. I'm sure they're making some small adjustments for the future, but all in all I'm quite happy."

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Alonso ends Pirelli test on top

Fernando Alonso was the man to beat as the second and final day of the Pirelli test reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The Spaniard ventured to the top of the timesheets during the morning session with a 1:40.529, which proved to unbeatable. Alonso also amassed the most laps, 105, which is the equivalant of two race distances at the Yas Marina circuit.

Michael Schumacher put in a late charge to take second place with just 15 minutes remaining in the session. However, the Mercedes GP driver was later stripped of his time after he was deemed to have cut a chicane. He dropped to seventh having initially been 0.156s adrift of Alonso.

As a result, Sebastian Vettel moved back up to second place as, like Alonso, he failed to better his time from the morning. Vettel, the new F1 World Champ, completed just 66 laps.

Red Bull's head of race engineering Ian Morgan said: "It's been interesting to work with different tyres here and it was good to have the opportunity to get information using a car we know well - the RB6 - before starting to work with the new car next year.

"Overall we have done everything we planned to and we're looking forward to working with Pirelli in the future.

"It's sad that this is the last day of running for the RB6 - it's a car that we have enjoyed a great deal of success with this year - but we're looking forward to 2011."

Rubens Barrichello finished in third place ahead of Robert Kubica, Gary Paffett, Oliver Turvey and Schumacher.

Paul di Resta, who was responsible for the first red flag when he broke down an hour before lunch, completed the top eight.

The only other stoppage on Saturday belonged to Pastor Maldonado, who was in action for Hispania Racing. He spun and stalled during the final hour of running.

Times

01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.529 105 laps

02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:40.825 66 laps

03. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:41.294 101 laps

04. Robert Kubica Renault 1:41.614 91 laps

05. Gary Paffett McLaren 1:41.622 46 laps

06. Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:41.740 30 laps

07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:41.757 74 laps

08. Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.869 35 laps

09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:42.110 43 laps

11. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:42.145 98 laps

12. Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1:42.416 47 laps

13. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:42.777 46 laps

14. Jarno Trulli Lotus 1:44.521 83 laps

15. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1:44.768 65 laps

16. Timo Glock Virgin 1:44.783 83 laps

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Vettel: Mark and I aren't fond of each other

Sebastian Vettel has admitted he and Mark aren't fond of each other, despite clearing the air after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which Vettel became the youngest ever champion.

The 2010 season at Red Bull has been a difficult one for the team. Starting with the fastest car and maintaining such an advantage doesn't seem to have been a problem for the Milton Keynes based squad.

The real issues resolve around the inter-team rivalry with cost the team a 1-2 finish in Turkey, as well as the negative effect of feeling under supported in Webber's case - which led to the two failing to see eye-to-eye on many occasions.

With the title secured, Vettel and Webber cleared the air, though the German admitted things had improved, they remain far from ideal.

"Immediately after the race we had a long conversation," Vettel told the official F1 website. "He came over to congratulate me and we took the chance to speak.

"There have been some things that annoyed me over the course of the year and vice versa. We’ve had the chance to set the record straight.

"I would not say that we have become fond of each other after that conversation, because there have been reasons why we collided, but we respect each other and that is a good basis."

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Mateschitz: Vettel will be better in 2011

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz believes new World Champion Sebastian Vettel will be even stronger when defending his title in 2011.

Vettel clinched the race victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, winning his maiden Drivers' Championship title by four points ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

And Mateschitz believes Red Bull fans can expect even more from Vettel next season.

"Yes, on condition that we are once again in a position to provide him with a competitive car," the Austrian said in an interview published in Sunday's Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

Mateschitz also told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that the plan from the beginning has been to create an era of F1 dominance akin to that of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who won five of his titles between 2000 and 2004 with Ferrari.

"There is no guarantee but that has been our plan from the outset. And now we will try it," he said. "I have said in the past that he will be the next superstar in Formula One."

The Austrian billionaire said he expected Vettel to spend many years at Red Bull as long as the team delivered.

"He will drive for Red Bull Racing as long as we provide him with a car that can win races. If not, we would let him go even if he had a contract."

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Kobayashi: We had a good season

Kamui Kobayashi says he is delighted with the way Sauber finished the 2010 season after a difficult start to the campaign.

The Japanese driver had six retirements in the first eight races of the year, but once the team got their act together he was one of the starts of the show and he finished with 32 points.

"We had a lot of ups and downs, but overall we had a good season," he said. "In the beginning we were struggling a lot. This was a pretty bad time. It was hard, and it was very difficult to recover from this situation during the season, because nowadays there is no testing.

"Despite this, towards the end of the season we were much stronger. The team did a great job to recover from this and I want to thank them for all their work."

As for his hopes for the 2011 campaign, Kobayashi says scoring points on a regular basis is one of his main aims.

"My personal aim is to make zero mistakes," he said. "For the team I hope we will have a good car, and be able to fight for points on a regular basis to improve our position in the Championship."

When asked what his secret is when it comes to overtaking, the 24-year-old jokingly responded: "Because I am Japanese I have small eyes - so I can't see the others guys.

"If I feel I can overtake I just do it. That's all, no secret."

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STR expect big things from Jaime

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost believes there is a lot more to come from Jaime Alguersuari.

Spaniard Alguersuari finished the 2010 season on a high when he held off Ferrari's Felipe Massa for more than three quarters of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to claim two points.

Although he finished the campaign with only five points - three less than team-mate Sebastien Buemi - Tost believes the 20-year-old had a lot of "highlights" this year.

"[it was] not only a strong end of the season, Jaime generally had a good season," Todt told Autosport.

"Remember back in Australia when he fought against Michael Schumacher for 30 laps. In Malaysia he did a fantastic race. There have been a lot of highlights."

With a full Formula One season now under his belt, Tost is convinced we can expect bigger and better things from Alguersuari in 2011.

"I think that he learned this season how to set up the car, how to drive the car, and I'm looking forward to the next season because I think he has matured enough to continue improving himself," said Tost.

"But we must also give him the right tools. He still needs a good car, and then I'm convinced he can do an even better job."

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Klien bemoans lack of opportunities

Christian Klien admits it's very difficult to land a race seat in Formula One if you don't have "a government or an oil company" as a backer.

The Austrian returned to the grid with Hispania Racing in Singapore this year after spending almost four years on the sidelines as a test driver for the likes of Honda and BMW-Sauber.

The 27-year-old Klien hopes to secure a place on the grid for 2011, but says your chances are pretty slim if you don't have financial backers.

"There are no guarantees, as we have seen with Nico Hulkenberg recently," Klien added. "He drove an excellent rookie season, pole position in Brazil and still he gets the push.

"It has never been easy to get a drive. Some time ago your best chance was when you were British, French or Italian. Nowadays drivers are coming in from all areas of the world: Russia, India, South East Asia, soon probably Korea and China. So it is pretty obvious that chances are mathematically lower these days.

"Whoever has a government or an oil company from a rising country behind him has the best chance to be on the grid in 2011.

"The economic factor has become increasingly important in the past two years. Even big names like Kimi Raikkonen in rallying need partners to secure their drive."

Klien, though, says Spanish outfit Hispania remain one of his options for next year.

"In my case there are still a few options and HRT is the obvious one," he said. "Driving those three races was the best test run I could get for 2011.

"The team is on the brink of becoming a serious contender in Formula 1, despite a few setbacks here and there. But things have looked worse in the past. There is still some time until March. My clear goal is to drive in all 20 races next season."

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Hulkenberg 'in talks' with Force India

Nico Hulkenberg's Formula One future remains uncertain, but the latest word coming from his manager is that he has held discussions with Force India.

The 23-year-old German is without a race seat for the 2011 season after Williams opted not to extend his contract despite some impressive showings.

His manager Willi Weber confirmed to sport1.de that they are "currently in talks" with Force India, but also admitted that they don't have "too many options" left.

Hulkenberg has in recent days been linked with the reserve driver's role at Mercedes GP, but the German manufacturer's motorsport boss Norbert Haug says they haven't been in touch with him and advised the 23-year-old against taking a testing role.

Haug told Auto Motor und Sport: "We haven't been in contact with Nico Hulkenberg. His car didn't drive itself to pole position in Brazil. Someone who has a GP2 title and a pole position in F1 behind his name has to be very capable. If he wants to keep his career going, he is better off as a race driver for second or third-rate team. "

Weber admitted he would pleased if Mercedes showed an interest in Hulkenberg, but confirmed that he would only sign up if he was assured of a race seat for 2011.

"That would be a plan B, with the assurance of having a race seat in 2012."

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Button: KERS will give us an edge

Jenson Button is convinced McLaren will have an advantage over Red Bull and Ferrari at the start of the 2011 season thanks to KERS.

The Kinetic Energy Recovery System was introduced in 2009 in attempt to aid overtaking, but it was not compulsory and only a handful of teams used it. That forced team bosses to have a rethink and they opted to outlaw the technology for the 2010 season.

However, the system will return next season but other technology like the McLaren pioneered F-duct will be banned.

Button, who didn't make use of KERS while he was driving for Brawn during the 2009 campaign, believes it will boost McLaren as they were one of the few teams that regularly used it last year.

"We don't have the F-duct next year, which is a bit sad because we have a great system," he said on the McLaren website.

"I've never driven with KERS before, but this team used KERS last year and used it well - I know because they kept coming by me at the start!

"They have so much experience in that area that I think we'll have an advantage - as will Mercedes and Force India, who use Mercedes engines.

"We'll have an advantage on Red Bull and Ferrari I think, which is great. We'll take every advantage we possibly can."

The 2009 World Champion also bemoaned the loss of adjustable front wings for the 2011 season, saying it will contribute to oversteering and understeering.

"We're only going to be able to adjust the rear wing for overtaking, when we're within a second of another car, so it's not going to help the balance," he added.

"It's unfortunate that we're losing the adjustable front wing, that's going to make the balance very difficult. We're running 150kg of fuel at the start of the race and 5kg at the end, so we're going to have very difference balance and it's going to be tough for us - you'll see a lot of cars oversteering and understeering, and not being able to change it."

With no major regulation changes coming into effect next year, Button feels there won't be too many changes to McLaren's car.

"The rest of the car is pretty much the same," he said. "If you don't have big regulation changes, a lot of what you develop through the year is used next season. For us that's good, we ended the year with a strong package. But there's always room for improvement.

"We really want to fight Red Bull and Ferrari next season and we need to push hard this winter - that's exactly what we're doing. I enjoy being involved with the development of the car - especially when you get the reward at the end of it. It's going to be a long winter but I'm very excited about next year."

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Chandhok in talks over 2011 F1 drive

Karun Chandhok could be back in the GP2 series next season, although has revealed he's still chasing a F1 race-seat.

Chandhok was left without a Formula One drive after Hispania opted to put test driver Sakon Yamamoto in his race-seat at the German GP. And although the 26-year-old had hopes of returning to the cockpit before the season ended, it wasn't to be.

The Indian driver, though, has not given up on Formula One, revealing that he is talking with several teams.

"My goal for next year as I've said before is still firmly to be in Formula One and negotiations for a drive in the 2011 F1 World Championship are progressing in the right way," he said.

"So hopefully we'll have a final programme in place before the F1 world shuts for Christmas."

However, should a F1 seat fail to materialise, a return to GP2 could be on the cards with Chandhok set to take part in this weekend's test session in Abu Dhabi.

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Seb gives Berlin fans 'something special'

Thousands of Berliners lined the street in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday to watch F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel drive his Championship-winning Red Bull racer.

The 23-year-old German, who just less than two weeks ago became the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport, put his RB6 car through its paces for his fans in freezing temperatures and snowy conditions.

"This is something really special. You don't get this type of opportunity very often in life," he said.

Once the Berlin event is over, Vettel will head straight to Dusseldorf to participate in the Race of Champions, which pits the best Formula One, World Rally Championship, NASCAR, sports cars and touring cars drivers against each other in identical cars, ranging from dune buggies to super sports cars.

Vettel's previous performances in the Race of Champions have been impressive, winning the last three Nations Cup events with Michael Schumacher and they are now hoping to make it four in a row.

Vettel is the youngest of 16 participants in Dusseldorf, the oldest is four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost, who is 55.

After being held in the Stade de France near Paris for three years, the Race of Champions moved to Wembley Stadium for two years. Last year it was held in the Birds Nest in Beijing.

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Horner: Webber will fight again in 2011

Christian Horner is adamant Mark Webber will be up for the fight next season despite losing out to his team-mate in this year's Championship.

Webber had his best Formula One season to date in 2010, finishing third in the Drivers' Championship after challenging for the title all the way to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

However, in the end, despite claiming four victories and an additional six podium results, he lost out by 14 points to his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

And although some have raised doubts as to whether the 34-year-old has another title fight in him, Horner insists he does.

"Absolutely, I don't see any reason why not," Horner told Autosport when asked whether Webber has another title push in him.

"He is driving tremendously well. This year he has performed in an exceptionally hard year and I think there are lessons that he will take out of 2010 that he will build on in 2011.

"I think he'll take a little bit of time to reflect, but when he looks back in the cold light of day at this year, he can be very proud of what he has achieved.

"He has won four grands prix, he has won the jewel in the crown at Monaco, where he was absolutely supreme, he was in the Championship battle right until the last race."

The Red Bull team boss also insisted that although it may take Webber a while to "recharged his batteries" and recover from the disappointment of losing out at the final hurdle, he believes the Aussie will be back on top form when the 2011 season kicks off in March.

"So many drivers of the five main contenders can look back at the season with ifs and buts, all having been in contention at some point in the year - the only time Sebastian led the championship was after Abu Dhabi," he said.

"Mark led for several months during the summer. Obviously there is disappointment in not having achieved his ultimate goal, but I think he has driven very, very well this year.

"He will recharge his batteries and will come back in 2011 with the lessons that he has learned this year, and I think he'll push equally as hard and be equally as competitive."

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Germany retains RoC Nations' Cup

Sebastian Vettel's incredible winter continued this evening as he joined forces with fellow Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher to give Germany victory in the Race of Champions' Nations' Cup contest for the fourth consecutive year.

The annual end-of-season RoC showdown between stars from across all motorsport disciplines, who fight it out in one-on-one contests in a variety of cars around an arena, has moved to Germany for the first time this year, taking place in Dusseldorf.

At first it looked like Schumacher and Vettel might be hard-pressed to continue their Nations' Cup winning streak, as both suffered shock defeats in the initial heats - Vettel losing out to Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana, both American extreme sports stars, and Schumacher being pipped by Belgian IndyCar driver Bertrand Baguette.

But winning their other three group-stage heats allowed Schumacher and Vettel to sneak through on a tie-break at the expense of Team USA's Pastrana and Carl Edwards, the German duo's best times being crucially slightly quicker.

They then defeated Baguette and his sportscar ace Team Benelux partner Jeroen Bleekemolen in the semi-finals, to set up a classic final showdown with Great Britain - this time represented by touring car heroes Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx - in the deciding head to head.

Although Schumacher took a straightforward win over Plato in the first of the three final races, Priaulx then defeated Vettel, meaning it all came down to a tense head to head between Priaulx and Schumacher - which the seven-time F1 champion won by 0.7s to clinch the honours for Germany.

Other F1 drivers in the event had tougher evenings.

Four-time world champion Alain Prost represented France alongside World Rally superstar Sebastien Loeb, but they were knocked out by Britain in the semi-finals and Prost's only personal success of the evening was winning a heat after Team Portugal's Alvaro Parente crashed.

Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen was paired with Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen in Team Nordic, but while the Finn won all of his three heats, Kristensen was defeated in all of his, and the Nordic duo were eliminated at the group stage on a tie-break with France.

The main individual Race of Champions contest takes place on Sunday afternoon.

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Trulli hints at Lotus future

Jarno Trulli firmly believes he will be a Lotus driver next season despite the team having yet to confirm their 2011 line-up.

Trulli joined Lotus from Toyota at the start of this year's Championship, entrusted with guiding the team during their first season in Formula One.

And although it's been a difficult year with Lotus, they did 10th in the Constructors' Championship, the best of the newcomers.

"I'll go to the factory in a few days to get ready and prepare the 2011 season chassis, cockpit and seat," Trulli told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Then I will probably have a break with my family, just relaxing."

Asked for his highlight of the season, the 36-year-old stated that it was the Brazilian GP even though it was not one of his better results.

"It's really hard to find a highlight for me, but Brazil was a great weekend, nearly a smooth weekend for me," he said.

"I qualified well, unfortunately during the race I had another failure, but my pace was unbelievably quick.

"At the end of the season I found something in the setup and car characteristic which gave me a good step in terms of performance.

"In the end I was happy with it even though it was a tough season."

In fact, his best result came at the Japanese GP where the Italian finished in 13th place, three positions outside of the points.

But despite not scoring a single World Championship point this season, Trulli insists he races with as much motivation as he would if he was driving a car capable of scoring.

"You've got to have the motivation in order to push harder, no matter where you are at the end of a lap," he added.

"Some performances have been pretty bad compared to what I was used to.

"But nevertheless I have always tried to get the best out of myself and the car, I've still enjoyed a lot of good fights."

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Kovalainen 'knocked out' in RoC smash

Heikki Kovalainen needed a precautionary visit to hospital after being knocked out in a big accident on Sunday in at the Race of Champions in Duesseldorf.

Kovalainen was behind the wheel of an Audi R8 sportscar with his British girlfriend Catherine Hyde as his passenger, competing in the afternoon's very first heat when he crashed.

The Lotus F1 driver, who won the Race of Champions back in 2004, clipped the barriers at the final corner, breaking the suspension of his Audi.

That forced him into a spin, which saw him destroy the inside barrier before hurtling into the outside wall.

The impact knocked the Finn unconscious, forcing him out of the event and into hospital for a precautionary check.

"Hardcore shunt with throttle jammed and rear suspension damaged, got knocked out, now some medical checkups," Kovalainen said on his Twitter.

The event saw a surprise winner in Portuguese GT racer Filipe Albuquerque, who defeated World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb in the final.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel clinched the Nations' Cup victory for the fourth consecutive year on Saturday evening.

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Massa: 2011 is not make-or-break

Felipe Massa has denied speculation that his future with Ferrari - or even in F1 - is dependent on him challenging for the title next season.

This year's Championship was a trying one for the Brazilian, who was back in action after a near fatal accident at the 2009 Hungarian GP.

Massa failed to win a single race this season and when he did come close in Germany, he was told through a coded message to move over and hand his team-mate Fernando Alonso the victory.

The Brazilian eventually finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship, 112 points behind title winner Sebastian Vettel.

His inability to match Alonso out on track has prompted some speculation that 2011 could be a make-a-break season. Massa, though, insists it isn't

"I don't think 2011 signifies a crucial year for me. Fundamentally, I have been in this situation often," he told Ferrari's website.

"I remember that at the start of 2006, many people said I would only last a year at Ferrari and then I won races that season and went on to stay for a long time more.

"In 2008, there was a lot of pressure, especially at the start, but I managed to cross the line at the end of the final race as World Champion.

"This year, there were many who said I would have a difficult year after my accident in Budapest: it turned out that way, but not for that reason.

"My approach always remains the same: starting the Championship with the aim of winning as many races as possible.

"Over the years, the names of at least ten drivers have been put forward as replacements for me at Ferrari, but I am still here!"

And 'here' is where he will be in 2011 when Formula One makes the switch back to Pirelli tyres, which the Ferrari driver tested in Abu Dhabi in the week following the conclusion of the season. He finished the day at the top of the timesheets.

"First impressions are very positive," he said. "The tyres immediately worked well, without the need to drastically change the car set-up. Sure, there is still work to do, but it was a really good day."

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Loeb gives up on F1 dream

Seven-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb says he has given up on the idea of competing in Formula One.

Loeb secured a deal with the Toro Rosso team to drive at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but motor racing's governing body refused to grant him a super license because of his lack of experience.

The Frenchman told L'Equipe website that "Formula One is over for me. If I had a chance to drive for fun, I would certainly do it with pleasure, but I don't think I will compete in a race one day."

He reckons that any F1 outing would have been a struggle for him, predicting that his transition would have been just as challenging as Kimi Raikkonen's move to the WRC has proved this season.

Loeb is well aware that a switch from the WRC to F1 would require a great adjustment, and with age not on his side it is perhaps unrealistic to think he could make the transition.

"Like you see for Kimi [Raikkonen, former F1 World Champion] also, it's hard work to get the experience and for sure the other way would be the same," he explained.

"When you see the young drivers coming into Formula One, they are 20 years old and I am 36, so maybe I have to think of something else now."

Loeb will drive for Citroen in the World Rally Championship for an eleventh season in 2011.