Sauber still keen on Brits

The biggest threat to one of the two young Britons joining the F1 fray full-time with the Swiss team would appear to be F3000 front-runner Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The rising Italian has attracted the attention of Ferrari and is also supported by Sauber backer Red Bull. Logic would therefore tend to suggest that Liuzzi is a shoe-in for the drive.

Sauber, however, has admitted that a British driver would be highly attractive in securing greater coverage for the team in the British-speaking media. "If there was a British driver and an Italian or a Frenchman of a similar standard," he said, "I would take the Briton."

Sauber again admitted his interest in Paffett, whom he labels 'a fighter', but the situation could be complicated by the potential involvement of the driver's current employers, Mercedes-Benz. Sauber would prefer to be able to sign a driver unencumbered by any future options, while Mercedes, understandably, would be looking to secure a call on Paffett's future services if they so wished, without the need to pay the same sort of money they had to part with for Kimi Raikkonen.

Paffett is understood to be under contract to Mercedes until the end of the year.

Nick Heidfeld is a known quantity to Sauber, but the German's chances of the seat could be damaged by team sponsors believing, rightly or wrongly, that re-signing a past driver is always a step backwards.

Sauber has not ruled out an end-of-year shoot-out for the seat but admitted: "It's always difficult because conditions change over a three-day test and you need to try to make sure you are making a level comparison."