No Toyota driver decision before August

Mika Salo confirmed in France that he has a year to run on his Toyota contract and will be staying with the team next year, but half of the F1 paddock would appear to be in pursuit of Allan McNish's seat.

Names mentioned in connection with Toyota in the Magny-Cours include Jenson Button, Olivier Panis, Nick Heidfeld, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Alexander Wurz and, not beyond the realms of possibility even, Jacques Villeneuve or Eddie Irvine.

"We haven't taken any decision and will probably do it around the Spa Grand Prix at the end of August," said Pasquali. "There is a lot of rumour but F1 rumours are a fact of life. In the meantime, our priority is to improve the car. Allan is doing a reasonable job for us, it's not easy and he has been unlucky. He has good technical feedback in testing and so at the moment there is no emergency."