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May 23rd
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Liuzzi laughs off new seat speculation

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Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi has shrugged off the new rumours that the team's test driver has been offered a race contract for 2011, suggesting that as far as he was concerned he is already contracted for 2011 with the team.

Speculation over the Singapore weekend suggested that the long-rumoured race deal for di Resta, who has tested the Force India car extensively this season in Friday practice, has been done.

The report claiming that the Scotsman had been offered a race deal, though, refused to speculate on which current driver he was set to replace.

Liuzzi does have a contract for 2011, and paddock speculation has linked his current team mate Adrian Sutil with a switch to Mercedes GP should Michael Schumacher choose to curtail his comeback.

But if the Mercedes link falls through, Sutil has outperformed Liuzzi so far in 2010, and would seem to be the obvious candidate for the seat alongside di Resta.

Liuzzi, though, dismissed the idea that he was set for the boot from the team, saying that he wasn't aware of any deal with the Scotsman, and that he was certain of honouring his 2011 contract.

"Over the weekend there were rumours that Paul di Resta has secured a seat at Force India next year," Liuzzi rambled in his post-Singapore column for the ESPN website.

"Personally I don't know if he has a place or what his contract says, but from my understanding that would mean that Adrian is out because I have a contract."

He added that: "The truth is that I haven't heard anything like that from inside the team and nothing has changed, so I can only assume that the stuff on TV and in the papers is a rumour."

He explained that team principal Vijaly Mallya had given the Italian his "full trust", and added that he was not concerned by the new flurry of speculation.

"It's well appreciated in the team that my results [this season] have not been my fault and Vijay Mallya has given me his full trust," he beamed.

"In a few weeks more information will come out, but I'm not worried by the speculation in the press in the mean time."

He added: "That kind of stuff is normal at this stage of the year, especially when there are rookies that people want to get into the business - more and more rumours are created.

"I don't really fear that, I just want to do the best I can for the team and secure Force India sixth in the championship."