BMW to drop Williams in quest for 'works' team?

The Formula One season may be but one race old, but already the rumour mill is working over time on suggestions of what may happen less than twelve months from now.

Topping the speculation file at present is the suggestion that BMW and Williams could part company in time for the 2006 campaign, with the German manufacturer taking the rumoured partnership with Sauber to a new level and leaving the Grove team to hunt for a replacement power source.

BMW has been linked to Peter Sauber's eponymous team as an engine supplier for a matter of weeks, a connection ironically based on comments made by Williams team boss Frank Williams, but the rumour mill is now suggesting that the Munich marque may decide to take a greater stake in the operation and effectively run it as a direct rival to Toyota, Renault and Ferrari.

A notable opponent to calls for engine suppliers to provide engines for more than one team, BMW is not seen as likely to supply both its 'own' team and a 'customer/partner', thereby leaving Williams out in the cold. However, according to America's SpeedTV, the Grove team is equally unlikely to be short of suitors, and is apparently already talking to possible replacements, even though it has a contract with BMW that stretches until 2009.

Toyota and, more surprisingly, Cosworth are being touted as possible Williams partners for 2006, despite the Japanese manufacturer having yet to record a victory in F1 and Cosworth still finding its feet after being sold by Ford to Champ Car boss Kevin Kalkhoven. A promising debut with Red Bull Racing in Melbourne won't have gone unnoticed, however, while reports that it is already well advanced in the development of next year's mandatory 2.4-litre V8 F1 engine - something else BMW vehemently opposed - will also make the famous British marque a popular target.

Williams last ran with Cosworth power in the early 1980s, taking world titles with Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg in 1980 and '82, before being lured to Honda at the start of the turbo era. Since then, it has used Judd, Renault, Mecachrome and BMW power, taking further titles with Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, but adding only ten wins - and no championship success since joining forces with the German company.