No driver decision at Williams yet

Despite mounting speculation in the German media, Williams is adamant that it has not yet made a decision on who will be teammate to Mark Webber next year. Nick Heidfeld and Antonio Pizzonia remain the favourites and it's widely thought that they will both be with the team in 2005 -- but who will be test driver and who will be racer is unknown.

The FW27 is due to be presented with new livery at the Bahrain International Circuit on January 7th, although the launch itself is scheduled for the end that month in Spain. Williams is reported to be holding a press conference in London on January 6th but speculation has it that it's in order to announce a new sponsor rather than to reveal the driver line up.

BMW motorsport director Mario Thiessen recently hinted that Heidfeld would be with the team in 2005. "After his strong achievements we will not send him home," Theissen was quoted as saying by the German press. Heidfeld impressed the team during testing in Spain and BMW is keen on the German, who has five years F1 experience.

Pizzonia has already raced for Williams when standing in for Ralf Schumacher in 2004 and is familiar with the team after being test driver for two years. Rumour suggests that Williams' sponsor Petrobras has an interest in the Brazilian taking the race seat, so both drivers have fairly strong cases. Theissen said that whichever is faster is the most important consideration.