By Phil Huff
March 23 2005

Earlier speculation that Anthony Davidson was in line to replace ex-BAR Honda racer Jacques Villeneuve at Sauber is rather wide of the mark, at least according to the people involved. Indeed, BAR Honda boss Nick Fry reported that the team has had "no approach from Sauber" while Peter Sauber himself has declared that he is "100% behind Jacques."

The original story queried where the funds would come from to pay off both Villeneuve and BAR, considering that the Swiss team admits that it would require an additional $5m income to run a third car for the season.

Speculation of Jacques' replacement arose after Autosport ran an article in which it claimed that the Canadian has a performance clause in his contract, and one that he's not meeting.

"There is no performance clause in his contract, I would never have accepted that," Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock confirmed to Autosport this week. "Anthony in a Sauber is a pure speculation of the British press which seems to be eager to get another British driver into F1."

Anthony Davidson has however spoken to Peter Sauber about the prospect of a third driver role, but we understand that his BAR Honda contract would not allow that. Additionally, Davidson does not have the financial backing that Sauber requires.