Manager working on HRT seat for Liuzzi

Vitantonio Liuzzi’s management is reportedly working hard to secure for the Italian the last vacant race seat on the 2011 grid.

Despite having a contract with Force India for this year, Liuzzi was left out of the Silverstone based team’s driving plans for the forthcoming season.

BBC Sport reports that it believes a settlement deal was "not yet finalised" by the time Paul di Resta was named officially this week as 28-year-old Liuzzi’s successor.

Spain’s Diario AS says Liuzzi’s manager Peter Collins, who is a former boss of the original Lotus team, is working to compile a budget in order to secure the second HRT race seat for Liuzzi alongside Narain Karthikeyan.

It has been rumoured that Liuzzi’s HRT budget could include money from Force India as part of a contract settlement.

"Peter Collins ... has confirmed that contacts exist," read the AS report.

However, it was AS that on Thursday reported that Pedro de la Rosa is on the verge of signing to return to McLaren in 2011 as reserve driver.

On Friday, the same newspaper claims that the British team is in fact heading towards relying only on Gary Paffett for the third role this season.

"The Spanish driver is now awaiting only final confirmation that the doors to Woking are closed," said AS.