BMW: We won't follow Renault or Honda.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen (left) has ruled out following in Renault's footsteps by creating a wider V angled-engine or, as in Honda's case, supplying works engines to an additional team.

When asked about the possibility of a second team being supplied engines by BMW Theissen replied: "We'd prefer not to do it and are simply not able to at the moment." He then emphasised that it is not simply a case of giving another team an engine: "You cannot develop an engine separately from the car and just bolt it together."

When asked about BMW's all new engine (the P80), Theissen explained: "If we were to close the gap we needed an all new engine - better weight, size and power. The development of the new engine started in January 2000 - even before the first race with the old engine!"

In terms of following Renault's example of using a radical V angle (111 degrees), Theissen was sceptical of its benefits. "We have a different V angle ourselves from last year, up from seventy degree's to somewhere between eighty-nine to ninety-one degrees. We didn't want to go any wider than this as the trade off between the centre of gravity height and engine position is too great," added Theissen, referring to the difficulty in packaging the exhaust that a wide V angle presents (the engine has to be raised).

"To build and forge a team is much more difficult than building an engine," Theissen concluded, when asked about the biggest challenge facing BMW WilliamsF1.