Liuzzi, Kobayashi to stay with current teams in 2011

Two more race cockpits for the 2011 season are locked out, according to reports.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport claims that Vitantonio Liuzzi is already under contract with Force India for next season, while Kamui Kobayashi is set to stay at Sauber due to the existence of a 2011 deal.

The existence of Japanese rookie Kobayashi’s ongoing contract was also reported recently by Finland’s Turun Sanomat.

It is a different story, however, with the other Sauber seat, currently occupied by Pedro de la Rosa.

The Spanish veteran had an awful weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, crashing into the barriers during qualifying and then losing a points-scoring position with another incident in the race.

In the post-race statement, Peter Sauber did not even mention the 39-year-old.

It is rumoured that former BMW-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld is a candidate for the 2011 place, and his attractiveness for next year has been boosted by his new Pirelli testing role.

The German was not seen in the Spa paddock at the weekend, and it is believed he has been asked by Pirelli not to speak to the media in the midst of the 2011 tyres’ development.