Williams ready to battle on customer cars

But the veteran team owner, breaking his silence over the recent customer car row, has made it clear that he will leave it to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to find a solution and won't join Spyker in legal proceedings.

Ecclestone is due to put forward a proposal to the teams prior to the Spanish Grand Prix to try and reach an agreement that will result in Spyker calling off their legal action against Super Aguri and Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Williams and Spyker want some definition of what an outfit must do to qualify for constructors' championship money - amid resistance at the idea of simply sharing the finances among all 12 teams.

But although it is clear that some form of compromise is needed from all the parties involved, Williams has ended his recent silence on the matter by making it clear that his team will battle all the way to ensure that only true constructors receive television money.

"We are going to fight our corner," said Williams. "The truth of the matter is we have not begun to litigate yet and we don't really want to.

"But putting that matter aside for us, when we signed the new deal (to commit to F1 from 2008) with Bernie in '05 it had already been mooted, but there was never any mention, that the fundamental financing of F1 would change.

"Constructors have their own fund and anybody who races in a Grand Prix, providing they are eligible to start, shares the money. There's talk that the money might go down to 12th place, to which we'll object obviously."

Although several compromise solutions have been put forward, and the issue was discussed at length in Saturday's team principals' meeting in Bahrain, Williams believes the matter is far from being resolved.

"Bernie made a compromise to the teams at Christmas, which is still floating about somewhere. It's that the top ten teams only get a share of the constructors' fund, which is about 35% of the total money into the teams' pot, and the customer cars get a share (of what is split) from the remaining 65%.

"I think that's been kicked around a bit in and out of favour. Of course the whole thing swirls with politics - who's in bed with so-and-so and who has just bought a car, or this or that.

"But I don't want to get drawn into it. I don't want to offend Bernie, who is the right person and only person to sort this out."