Williams faces fight to keep designers

According to tomorrow's AUTOSPORT magazine, Jaguar is thought to have had talks with both Willis and Fisher, who were responsible for penning this year's impressive BMW-powered FW23.

Eponymous team boss Sir Frank Williams has said that both are on long term contracts, but admitted that losing either of them would certainly cause the Grove-based outfit problems.

"They are on long-term contracts and cannot go tomorrow," Williams told Autosport. "At the appropriate time we will discuss terms. It would be a big blow to us [to lose them] and one we would not be able to take in our stride."

This is not the first time the Big Cat squad has been linked to the design duo. Jaguar is thought to have made approaches to both men in August this year after a failed attempt at securing the services of McLaren technical director Adrian Newey, but team boss at the time Bobby Rahal denied any interest. Of the two, Willis is thought to be the most likely to leave Williams.