Pollock confident of top three in championship

The Canadian ace, who heads to his home Grand Prix this weekend, can quit the Brackley-based squad at the end of the season if it does not take a top three spot in the teams' standings.

"To be third in the world championship, we have got to beat Williams and we have got to get in front of Jordan," said Pollock. "We are behind both, but the car is competitive enough to get up there. We are going to have to also improve it and it is up to us to do our job. It is up to us to give the drivers the best possible car we can."

Villeneuve notched up the team's first podium finish at the Spanish Grand Prix in April, after three years of trying. But Pollock believes his team has come a long way in that time.

"We are a young team," he said. "We are just getting into our third season. When we started we were competing against [teams] Minardi, Williams and McLaren. Now we are competing against [manufacturers] Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari. It has changed and it is getting harder.

"And it is going to get harder for everyone not just us, because everyone is putting in extra effort. I don't think we have done a bad job to get us up there in a short period of time. We have actually done a very good job but the job is still not good enough to beat the bigger teams."

BAR are fifth equal in the constructors' championship with the Sauber team, one point behind rival Honda-powered team Jordan and six behind the third-placed Williams-BMW squad.

Villeneuve is thought to have already told the team that nothing less than third in the standings will be acceptable this season.