BMW in no hurry to decide 2007 line-up

Villeneuve's contract with BMW-Sauber runs out at the end of the season and the Canadian's only chance of remaining in F1 is believed to be with the Swiss outfit.

But any hope that the team would give Villeneuve an early answer on whether he will remain at the team in 2007 appear to have been dashed, with BMW's motorsport director Mario Theissen having said that they will probably not decide on their driver line-up until the end of the year.

"We are not under any pressure at all," Theissen told autosport.com. "I think it proved very much okay to take the decision quite late last year, so I expect us to do that by the end of the season."

When asked whether Villeneuve's recent strong performances had given him a good chance of staying for a third season at the team, Theissen said: "Wait and see. One of the reasons to not take a decision now is to have the opportunity to watch all the drivers for the rest of the year."

Villeneuve told autosport.com at the Monaco Grand Prix that he was baffled about why his recent record in the sport was not enough to help secure the future.

"Being quicker than my teammate now, having won the World Championship, raced for pole positions, seems to be a negative to get a contract," he said.  "It's a strange situation.

"It's going well here (at BMW), but no one has yet told me that this means they would like to keep me for next year. It would be a shame if it did not carry on."