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Red Bull has confirmed that Max Verstappen will drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015.

He will partner Daniil Kvyat, which means that Jean-Eric Vergne will be out of a job.

Verstappen’s father Jos raced in F1 from 1994 to 2003, competing in 106 GPs. His mother Sophie Kumpen was a karting star in her own right.

The Belgian-born Dutchman, who turns 17 on September 30, was signed as Red Bull junior driver only last week, having turned down overtures from Mercedes. He is currently lying second in the European F3 series in his first season in car racing.

He said: “Ever since I was seven years old, Formula 1 has been my career goal, so this opportunity is truly a dream come true.”

Team boss Franz Tost said: “We consider Max to be as one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation and we believe he has the necessary maturity and mental strength to take on this challenge successfully. This year he has already demonstrated how well he can cope under difficult conditions. For example, at the Norisring and Nürburgring, he showed extraordinary determination and the ability to withstand pressure before going on to win. Bearing in mind that Scuderia Toro Rosso was created with the aim of bringing young talent from the Red Bull Junior Team into Formula 1 and to educate them, it will now be up to us to provide Max with a competitive car, which will enable him to have the best possible start to his Formula 1 career.

“With this in mind, I would also like to thank Jean-Eric Vergne for all his hard work. He has produced strong performances, but unfortunately he was also hindered by some reliability problems, especially in the first half of the current season. We hope that we have resolved these problems and that he will be able to end the second half of this season on a high note and thereby show that he still deserves another opportunity in Formula 1.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has played down suggestions of any driver changes at the Maranello team for 2015.

Fernando Alonso is rumoured to be exploring other options as he searches for a competitive package, while inevitably there are question marks over Kimi Raikkonen after his disappointing season.

“We are lucky to have two great champions, who are working with the whole team to get back to being competitive again,” Montezemolo said on the Ferrari website. “Of course, as is the case every summer, there is unfounded gossip about alleged problems with senseless rumours bandied about, such as the ones relating to Alonso’s contract or those of drivers’ salaries. We know that the summer heat always produces silly stories.

“Our drivers must now relax in order to return in top form. The season is still long and we need Fernando and Kimi to be in great shape. And on the subject of Kimi, I wish him all the best as he is soon to become a dad.”

Meanwhile do Montezemolo insisted that changes instigated by team principal Marco Mattiacci will pay off.

“We are making in-depth changes on both the organizational side, in our approach and culture. We have taken important decisions and have made significant progress, even if, at the moment, the results of all this work are not always visible. The aim is to get back to being as competitive as we were before in the shortest possible time, while at the same time putting everything in place so that we can embark on another winning cycle.

“As for our sport in general, we are pleased to see that all the major players share the views we first put forward regarding the need to revamp Formula 1. We have proposals aimed specifically at improving the show, starting with more straightforward regulations, which put the spectators first, especially the younger generation.”

Sergio Perez still has the five-place grid penalty imposed after the clash with Felipe Massa in Canada, despite the FIA holding a new hearing today.

Perez was given a chance to present his case, which was backed up by telemetry from Force India. However the Austrian GP stewards decided to confirm the decision made by their Canadian counterparts.

The stewards revealed that Perez contended that “in defending his position he exercised his right… to use the whole track.” However the stewards said that “the defence of his position occurred in the braking area,” adding that the rules state that “any right to defend by using the whole track must occur prior to the braking area,” and that thus Perez “was not entitled to defend his position in the manner that he did.”

Perez insisted that despite his disappointment, he wanted to move on.

“We went to show all the evidence that we had, the data, the line, the pictures that we couldn’t show in Montreal,” he said. “So for that reason we felt very confident that we had the proof. The stewards looked to be quite sensible and agreed to an extent in everything I said there, but in the end the situation didn’t change at all.

“It’s a bit disappointing, but it’s time to move on. For tomorrow it will be a big pain to be five places back at a track which is so small and where it’s so difficult to overtake.”

Pastor Maldonado has played down talk of a rift between himself and Williams – and he insists that he will still be in F1 next year.

Doubts have been cast over the future of PDVSA-backed drivers after some problems in Venezuela.

“Rumours about my relationship with Williams and vice versa are completely false,” he wrote in a series of Tweets. “There is a good relationship between driver and team. We have been working hard day and night to improve our performance and results. Unfortunately this is F1, there are good years and bad, I think we’re not the only ones who have gone through difficult times in terms of results.

“Similarly, we have shown that even after non-competitive performance we did not give up and won’t give up until the last race.

 “About my future – I will be in F1 next season proudly representing Venezuela. Hopefully good news soon.”

Mark Webber secured his first pole of 2013 at Suzuka, but the Aussie admitted that the achievement was a little hollow given that for once his team mate Sebastian Vettel had some bad luck.

The German had KERS problems in Q3 and yet was still able to give Webber a run for his money and take second place.

"It's a great track, we all enjoy driving here and the laps weren't too bad,” said Webber. “Seb had a problem in qualifying, I still did a phenomenal lap, but it's a bit of a hollow pole. People were trying all sorts of tyres, scrubbed, new, but we did the lap when it counted. It's a nice farewell to have the pole on my last time here.”

Webber now has to get his start right on Sunday after consistently having problems this season.

"I haven't been too bad at starts, the clutch has been good all weekend, so it should be OK. I'll focus on myself, try to find some gaps for myself, but Seb, Lewis and the Lotus will be challenging. I'm hoping for a clean race, from me, from the pit stops, we have enough experience, so it should be OK.”

Webber is hoping to end his season on a high: “I just have to look forward, It's tough to see the results I lost and you can frustrated for. It takes energy is you look back. Tomorrow we'll have a great chance and I'll think it's my last time in Suzuka when I'll come out of the last corner. It's a great circuit, the car is working great and it was a nice day, and let's hope it lasts another 24 hours, in India and until the rest of season.”

The tragic news emerged while the F1 cars were running in Suzuka on Friday afternoon that Maria de Villota has been found dead in a hotel room in Seville. She was 33.

The daughter of former F1 driver Emilio, she competed in F3, GTs and touring cars before getting her first experience of powerful single-seaters in the Superleague Formula in 2009.

She had a chance to test an old Renault F1 car at Paul Ricard in 2011, and that let to a testing deal with Marussia the following year.

Sadly on July 3 that year she was involved in a freak accident at Duxford Aerodrome which saw her strike the back of the open tail gate of a truck. She suffered terrible injuries and lost her right eye.

Her subsequent recovery and determination to rebuild her life offered a shining example to people in any walk of life, and she continued to champion the cause of female racing drivers.

She had written a book about her experiences, and was in Seville for its launch.

FIA President Jean Todt said: “Today is a tragic day for motor sport. My deepest condolences go to the de Villota family. María was a fantastic driver, a leading light for women in motor sport and a tireless campaigner for road safety.

“Above all she was a friend I deeply admired. Through her courage, strength and determination she transformed her personal misfortune on the track into a powerful message for road safety that was heard at race tracks and beyond around the world. María was a beloved member of the FIA family. Our thoughts go to her family today.”

Fernando Alonso says that Ferrari didn’t have its usual race pace in Korea, and admits he already realised after practice that it would be a tough weekend.

For once Alonso didn’t gain places during the race, starting and finishing sixth, behind Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton.

“Normally on Sunday we have a good pace, but here also on Sunday we didn’t have the performance we expected,” he said. “We saw on Friday a little bit, the long runs were not as good as other Grands Prix, and we knew that maybe the race was tough, and unfortunately we confirmed this feeling today. We were not so good at the start, in Turn 3 we lost a position to Nico, and then we were all the race behind Hulkenberg, which obviously also doesn’t help the tyres. We didn’t have the pace, but hopefully in Suzuka we can come back to a better one and fight for the podium again.”

Fernando had a lucky escape on the first lap, when he was nearly hit by a spinning Felipe Massa.

“It was close, obviously we arrived there everybody attacking. Felipe lost the control a little bit, but we were able to avoid a collision. I don’t know if I had a chance to attack Nico in Turn 4, I doubt, so I don’t think the race changed too much for me. Felipe recovered some positions and arrived ninth, so it’s important for the constructors’ championship as well. As I said we need to recover form in Suzuka.”

Alonso appears resigned to the pace of Red Bull: “It’s no surprise any more, so more or less you know it’s not frustrating or surprising you on Sunday. You know this on Thursday before you arrive to the Grand Prix. The place Webber overtook me in Turn 6, you need to have another category car, because it’s impossible to do Turn 4 and 5 behind another car and be side-by-side – this is a super performance. And they deserve it, they are the best ones at the moment, they are winning everything, and we have to do better.”

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed another good run to the podium in Korea, the Finn turning ninth on the grid into second place at the flag.

Crucially he got ahead of Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean just after the first safety car restart, and after that the Frenchman was not able to find a way back past. Meanwhile the team opted not to ask Kimi to move over despite his pursuer being potentially faster.

“It’s not ideal to start so behind and not having maybe the best weekend,” said Raikkonen. “Bit similar to the last race really, but the car was a bit better in the race. Still not ideal, a little bit too much understeer, and I lost one place or two places at the start and then got them back in corner three.

“And then I was able to pass people and then sat behind them again after the pitstop. I had more speed but I couldn’t get past, and then we decided to stop a bit earlier, and when the safety car came for whatever it was, five laps or something, obviously it helped a little bit for us to close the gap in the front.

“Romain made a mistake and I managed to pass him and just didn’t have enough speed at the end and not enough tyres were left compared to them, because they stopped later. It was good fun but I would rather start in the front and finish in the front. It would have made our life a bit easier.”

Raikkonen said that even without the safety car periods he would probably have gone to the end on that set of tyres.

“We would probably have tried it, or looked at some point at how the tyres [were lasting]. Without the safety car we gained a lot of time and lap places if we’d stopped earlier in the last pit stops, so who knows? In the end we didn’t stop again now. You can always say that if but it makes no difference. You have to react and do what you think is the right thing, and sometimes certain things help you. My front tyre was pretty done in the end, but we finished the race in a pretty good position. We would probably try to run until then anyhow.

“It maybe helped a bit in the end because my front tyre was in quite a bad way, it kind of ran out of the rubber in the end. So I couldn’t go much longer any more – but obviously that’s the part of racing. Sometimes it helps you a bit.”

Regarding Vettel’s pace he said: “Let’s put it this way: even it we would have started behind him, we still don’t have the speed of him. Not far off from him in the race with a little bit from all the tyres but I mean it’s so difficult to overtake if you’re not massively faster. So, I think that was pretty OK, what we did today.”

As usual it may have looked easy from the outside, but Sebastian Vettel insists that he had to work hard to lodge a fourth straight Grand Prix win in Korea.

Vettel clearly met the challenge of keeping his tyres alive, but his first job was to stay in front on the first lap.

“It’s always tricky here because the way to the first corner is quite short but then you have two big straight lines,” said Vettel. “To be the first car is the worse because you have no tow. I had a good start and could focus on the first corner.

“I had a very good exit and was able to get a couple of metres between myself and Lewis and then I think Lewis was in more trouble with Romain from behind into Turn Three and I obviously benefit from that and had a little bit of cushion and again for the next straight and then kept the lead – which I think was crucial. After that I tried to build a gap and keep it quite consistent. I knew that on the soft tyres it will be tricky and yeah, obviously with the safety car later on it got quite busy.”

Vettel’s life was made harder by the safety car, which cost him the 5s margin he had established.

“Kimi pitted a couple of laps before that so his tyres were a little bit older but obviously took quite a long time before the safety car came back in and then there was another safety. So I think in terms of tyre age it was no problem. Obviously the cars get lighter towards the end, so fortunately we didn’t have to challenge the absolute maximum out of the tyres, because I think the Lotuses were probably a little bit better in terms of endurance. So, I think the speed was there and in the end obviously I tried to build up a little bit of a gap to Kimi and keep it quite consistent.”

As usual Vettel insisted that he’s not looking at the points just yet.

“I’m trying not to think about it to be honest. I’m trying to focus more on the present I think we obviously had the incredible chance, I think two years ago, to do so. We did it but I think there are still a lot of points to get, even though it looks very good for us. There’s still a chance for Fernando, I think, so we have to stay on top of our game but to be honest, I think I said on the podium, we’re just having a good time.

“We enjoy the fact that the team is working very well. The car is working… It’s on the edge to be honest, more so than you would probably think from the outside, but it’s obviously nice when you get the results like Singapore or this weekend. To be honest with you, I don’t really care. I look forward to Japan because it’s one of the nicest tracks of the whole season.”