There have been rumours flying round the internet for weeks from so called insiders, which have now found their way to The Guardian Newspaper, that Williams have signed a deal for 2006 with Cosworth. The rumours are that it is just a 1 year deal, used as a stop-gap until getting a longer term deal with Toyota from 2007. I personally think it is the best thing for Williams in their present predicament. Things had turned horribly sour with BMW, Toyota have already stated that it's too late in the day to put together a deal, and there are the obvious wranglings with Honda which would stand in the way of a potential deal. Cosworth have been developing their V8 for some months now and it looks like Williams will be the only team using the engine for 2006, so Williams should get undivided attention from the engine developers. And this season so far Cosworth have performed remarkably well (decent power and outstanding reliability) considering all the turmoil that has been going on behind the scenes, so they're clearly on form at the moment.
So if that's all sorted now, the only thing that remains to be sorted at Williams is who's gonna be driving the darned thing! Buttongate 2005 is in full swing at the moment with new rumours surrounding his future coming out seemingly every day. SFW seems determined he'll be with them for 2006, Nick Fry of BAR seems desperate to do anything in his power to keep him. Fry's even gone so far as to say that forcing JB to honour a contract at Williams would be a breach of his human rights (*cough* hypocrisy *cough*). Then of course there was the link with Ferrari (), the rumour that BAR would offer Williams Honda engines in exchange for Button's services, and yesterday the big rumour was that BAR would give Williams Anthony Davidson in exchange for Button (even paying Davidson's wages for 2 years, essentially giving Williams a free driver). All these rumours seem to have been scotched fairly quickly by the relevant parties, so we're still none the wiser. It'll probably all come down to meetings between Button (and his lawyers no doubt) and Sir Frank Williams. If it is true that Button is now keen to stay at BAR then I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting!
Button also seems to be the key to where a LOT of other drivers will be going. If Button goes to Williams then Heidfeld will almost certainly go to the new BMW squad, but if not he might be tempted to stay. There have been rumours that Barrichello could fill the void left at BAR if Button jumps ship leaving a space at Ferrari, with Felipe Massa the favourite to be Schumi's new lapdog. If Massa leaves Sauber/BMW then that could mean a lifeline for Jacques Villeneuve with a place alongside Heidfeld. GOD this is confusing!!!
So what do you guys reckon, where will Button end up next season???
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer
For a top team that is bad. But i don't know if Cosworth can help them bridge the speed gap?
