Has Luizzi been dropped by HRT?

[John S]

His involvement in i1 series suggests he may have been sidelined.             
How else can his inclusion in the i1 series be explained with competetive double header race weekends straddling the Spanish test dates ahead of the new F1 season?    

 Former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, Tonio Liuzzi and Giancarlo Fisichella have all signed up for the inaugural i1 Super Series in India.
 
The new series was launched at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and other notable F1 names include Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mika Salo, Sakon Yamamoto, Alex Yoong and Neel Jani while Indycar's Pippa Mann is also part of the line-up.
 
The i1 Super Series consists of 10 races over five weekends with the opener taking place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on January 22. That will be followed by races in Bahrain (Feb 4), Qatar (Feb 11), Delhi (Feb 26) and Abu Dhabi (March 10).

Nine city-based franchise teams - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Kolkata, Goa - will take part and teams have one international and one Indian driver.
 
They will be competing $2 million prize money and they will race Radical Sportscars' SR3 roadster, which is designed to touch speeds of 250kmph and accelerate from 0-100km/h in just three seconds.
 
The i1, which also known as the Indian Racing League, is based on the successful Indian Premier League and is sanctioned by the FIA.

Planetf1.com, Today.

[Alianora La Canta]

Part of the point of i1 picking the dates it did was to ensure it didn't clash with F1, so that F1 drivers could participate. It's why the dates straddle test sessions rather than completely clash with them. I don't think Tonio's involvement with i1 says anything about Hispania's position regarding him, particularly given that he's been rumoured to have been getting involved since about August and his manager is one of the main people involved in getting i1 to fruition.

Mind you, Tonio's main sponsor in 2011 was Sahara Force India thanks to that final year of FIF1 contract. Without that, I'd be surprised if he could pay his way into a seat, i1 or no i1.

[John S]

Luizzi insists he has a contract with HRT for 2012 yet the new team boss still talks about the 2nd seat decision being open?
To illustrate this point Luis Perez-Sala is quoted in an Autosport article today giving the impression the 2nd seat is still very much up for grabs.

"The thing is that it has taken everybody by surprise," he said of Alguersuari's exit from STR. "Nobody expected it. I wouldn't have bet anything on that happening. So we are in pretty advanced talks with other drivers. Until everything is done I don't want to say anything, but it's going to be difficult."

And he admitted the second driver will need to bring financial backing in order to secure the seat. "Yes. We are a small team and we need to cover the budget as best as possible. I would like it to be different, but at the moment we don't have a choice. We hope to change that over time, but at the moment we need the support."

Autosport.com, Today.

[Dare]

I expect Luizzi to be gone next year,a shame I likes him