Formula One: Williams' Woes Fuel Rumours That Bmw Will Go Its Own Way

When Mark Webber's Williams-BMW took its place on the front row of the grid for Sunday's Spanish grand prix you could have been forgiven for thinking that Sir Frank Williams' squad were on the verge of a breakthrough.

Just over one and a half hours later Webber took the chequered flag a distant sixth, the last competitor not to be lapped by the winner Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren-Mercedes.

It hardly eased rumours of mounting tension between Williams and their Munich-based engine supplier and added fuel to fiery talk that BMW wants a stake in the Sauber operation as a basis for its own grand prix team. "We are not happy about where we are and that applies to BMW in the same way as Williams," said Mario Theissen, BMW's motorsport director.

Patrick Head, co-founder of the Williams team, would not be drawn on this issue. "Whatever happens, I am sure we will have competitive engines next year," he said. "The truth is that we're actually a lot closer to the competitive pace than we were at the start of the year. We had to take a risk in Barcelona and run Mark with a lighter fuel load in second qualifying.

"That said, you'd have to say that ifs and buts don't matter at all in this business, but the fact remains that in terms of pure speed, on a track like Barcelona which is very dependent on aerodynamic performance, we were closer to the front than we were."

In formula one nothing is as clear-cut as it seems. Williams, winners of nine constructors' world championships, appear to be making heavy weather of it this season but their Spanish weekend involved compromises. After problems were detected with the exhaust valves on the BMW engines allocated to this race, it was decided that two modified V10s should be flown down to Barcelona in time for Saturday's first qualifying.

Under new regulations, once race weekend begins on Friday an engine change incurs a 10-place penalty if completed before Saturday qualifying starts or a move to the back of the grid if changed after that.

Nick Heidfeld's Williams had engine changes twice, so he opted to miss second qualifying on Sunday to conserve tyres and engine, knowing he was at the back in any case.

"Mark did not run at all on Friday," said Head, "so he incurred no penalty when we installed a new-specification engine on Friday night. But he did in effect have only a two-day grand prix weekend, which, while not crippling to his chances, was not really ideal."