Despite his claim that he has a valid contract for 2006 with Sauber - soon to be BMW - Jacques Villeneuve would be unwise to take anything for granted.

According to Reuters, contract or no contract, there is no guarantee that the 1997 world Champion will partner Nick Heidfeld next season.

"We have been fully focused on getting Nick under contract for next year in the first instance and now we are looking into the other issue," Mario Theissen told Reuters.

"We all saw that even a world champion cannot return after a period of being out of the sport and be competitive right from the start," he added, referring to the couple of races the Canadian contested for Renault at the end of 2004, following the 'transfer' of Jarno Trulli to Toyota.

The 2005 season with Sauber - the contract signed within 24 hours of the 2004 Renault deal - did not get off to a good start for the former WilliamsF1 and BAR star, with team boss Peter Sauber - a man known for his patience - openly critical of the former Champion.

"Jacques's first half of the season was certainly not encouraging," admitted Theissen. "But now he is catching up and we just decided we wanted to see him in the second half of the season. We don't see ourselves under any time pressure but that's on our table now.

"You will see the definite line-up at the first race," he added. "Anything can happen in Formula One."

There is talk within the pitlane that Villeneuve's manager, Craig Pollock, is already convinced that the Canadian will not get the BMW driver, and is working out the fine-print of the compensation package.

Meanwhile, a nation - and thousands of JV fans around the world - holds its breath.