Villeneuve set for engine change

Following the retirements suffered by Villeneuve in Bahrain and teammate Nick Heidfeld in Malaysia, BMW have introduced new parts to their engine for this weekend's Grand Prix in Melbourne.

But the two-race engine rule means that the power-unit Villeneuve is current using does not have these modifications.

With third driver Robert Kubica suffering an engine failure on Friday morning, the team have revealed that they are almost certain to change the power-unit on Villeneuve's car after final practice tomorrow.

"It is not definitely happening, but there is a high probability," a team spokesman told autosport.com.

BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen said earlier in the weekend that the team were still working on a final solution to their crank train problems

"We have an interim package here which includes some measures that we don't want to keep for the rest of the season," he said.

Kubica's engine has been replaced following the first practice failure. The Polish driver will take part in practice 2.