Williams recently terminated their engine deal with Japanese car maker Toyota – following a 3-year partnership – and were chasing for at least 3 options for power plant suppliers for next season: Cosworth, Renault and Mercedes.
Apparently, what made them go for the Cosworth units is the fact that the British engine manufacturer has been allowed by the FIA to retune their engines for the upcoming season. Cosworth will return to F1 with their 2006 V8s – Williams knows best, as they were the last ones to partner them in the series, prior to their withdrawal – and will seek to equal the other engine manufacturers in terms of performance throughout the 2008 season.
“They are certainly very committed to it and working hard. They have been one of the options but we are not stating where we cast our final hook in terms of what is available to us until after the final race of the season. But I think our design office know what they are designing for,” said the team's engineering chief Patrick Head, according to the aforementioned source.
Head also insisted that his team should make a final and official decision in due time, as the design department must have all the pieces of the 2010 puzzle together in order to secure the development of a competitive car next year.
“Ross Brawn and the team showed that you can make an engine change on Christmas Eve and still produce a pretty competitive car but I don't think our design office would thank us for doing that and they will have a little longer than that to design the car around the engine,” added Head.
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