Nov.26 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg's return to a race seat in 2012 is a done deal, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

The report said Force India has already signed its current reserve and Friday driver to replace race regular Adrian Sutil, even though an announcement is not due yet.

"If you remember, he (boss Vijay Mallya) said December 15 and that would be consistent with what he's always projected," deputy team chief Robert Fernley said on Friday.

24-year-old Hulkenberg also hinted that while the announcement might not be imminent, he will no longer have to wait "weeks".

"Hopefully it's not (going to take that long); hopefully it is a matter of a week or two," he said at Interlagos, according to DPA news agency.

"Two would be the maximum, then everyone will know where they stand."

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