Davidson poised for BAR return

The British star, who was one of the sensations of 2004 with several ultra-strong performances during Friday testing for BAR, has been forced to sit out the first two weeks of winter testing while the talks took place between Williams and BAR.

Williams had wanted to test Davidson with a view to him possibly joining Mark Webber in the race team next year, but plans for a run at Jerez this week were blocked when BAR baulked at requests for Williams to hold a future option over Davidson's services.

Despite last-ditch efforts to resolve the situation, sources have told autosport.com that BAR and Williams finally broke off talks at the end of this week - meaning the way is now clear for Davidson to get back in the cockpit of the BAR. Williams has already drafted in Nick Heidfeld for a second test next week because Davidson's situation has not been resolved.

The Brackley-based outfit had not wanted Davidson to join its winter testing while there was a chance that any knowledge he gained of developments planned for 2005 could be taken to arch rivals Williams.

With the Williams option now looking all but over, pending an 11th hour change of heart by either Williams or BAR over Davidson's future, the team is set to give the final green light to Davidson returning to the cockpit next week. A final decision will be made on Monday.

The whole Williams-BAR affair must be incredibly frustrating for Davidson, who has been placed in the crazy situation of finding his best hope of a race seat extinguished solely because he is such hot property.

Speaking to Autosport this week, Davidson admitted that the affair had not been easy to handle - but refused to be critical of either team's actions. "You start to feel left out of F1 quickly if you're not participating in it," he said. "It's a backhanded compliment in a way that BAR wouldn't let me test, but that doesn't make it any easier."

Davidson's return to BAR, and the team's insistence on keeping hold of him, means he will be in pole position to land a race seat with the team in 2006 - and he still remains a possiblity for Red Bull Racing next year.