Motor Sport British Grand Prix: Jordan are likely to lose their chief asset at the close of this season as it was revealed Giancarlo Fisichella visited the Sauber factory earlier this week.

The 30-year-old Italian driver, who earned his first win, and Jordan's first since 1999, with an unlikely victory in Brazil in April, toured the Swiss team's Hinwil base on Wednesday and is believed to be considering a move to the team next year as the contracts of Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen expire at the end of this season.

"Giancarlo did come to the factory," a Sauber spokesman said. "It was for informal discussions and he also had a look around. Both our drivers' contracts run out at the end of the season and they are free to talk to teams and Peter Sauber is also looking at his options. That is just normal process."

Sauber have not figured in rumours surrounding Fisichella, as it had been believed the Italian, whose reputation has been greatly enhanced through strong performances at a moribund Benetton and a struggling Jordan, was attempting to insinuate himself into a drive at McLaren, a bid backed by Eddie Jordan.

Berths at front-running teams are few and far between, however, and in recent weeks rumours that David Coulthard is to stay for a ninth season at McLaren have gained currency.

But the Sauber link to Fisichella and by extension, Jordan, has Mercedes-weighted merit. Jordan has made no secret of his desire to secure a supply of $10-million Mercedes engines for 2004 to replace the ailing Ford Cosworth units that have ill-served his team this year. He has forged strong links with the German company and the placing of Fisichella at Sauber may yet reveal itself to be a Jordan-Mercedes-backed deal, with the Italian going to the Swiss team and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld moving to Jordan.

Heidfeld is still under contract to Mercedes, the Stuttgart company having picked up the young German early in his career and seen him through a F3000 championship-winning year at the West team, run under the auspices of McLaren, and through stints at Prost and Sauber. His deal with the manufacturer comes to a close this season but a placement at Jordan may be a last resort for Heidfeld, who has so far had no luck in his pursuit of Antonio Pizzonia's drive at Jaguar.

The move would suit Fisichella, who may see it as a way into the Ferrari camp, the Swiss outfit enjoying a healthy relationship with the Scuderia through its $25-million use of Ferrari customer engines.

Mercedes, in turn, would see the benefit of the Heidfeld placement, it being the last act of their long deal with a driver they no longer rate as a star of the future.

Meanwhile, Frentzen is also coming to the close of his one-year deal with Sauber. That would open the way for Ferrari to replace Felipe Massa at Sauber - Massa raced with Sauber last year prior to taking up a testing role at Ferrari.

While Peter Sauber is known to be keen to take on Fisichella, reacquainting himself with Massa would be far from an ideal situation. He was widely reported to be less than satisfied with the Brazilian, who recorded eight non-finishes from 16 starts last year.

Ferrari, however, have identified the super-quick Massa as the man to take over Michael Schumacher's mantle when the German's contract runs out in 2006 (he is then expected to retire) and are keen to see Massa get valuable racing experience.

Until 2006, though, only one seat will open up at Ferrari, that of Rubens Barrichello, whose contract expires at the end of next year. It is thought that Massa is favoured for that drive in 2005 and thus a move to Sauber for Fisichella may well prove counterproductive.

Meanwhile, on circuit at Silverstone yesterday, Michael Schumacher set the pace in first qualifying, claiming a potentially beneficial final slot in the running order of today's final qualifying session, two-tenths of a second ahead of Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya and three-tenths ahead of Williams's Ralf Schumacher, winner of the last two grands prix and now just 11 points adrift of his championship-leading brother.

Silverstone may be a stone's throw from the Jordan factory, but local knowledge proved of little help to Fisichella and Ralph Firman. Fisichella ended the day in 16th position, with Firman eight-tenths behind his team-mate and 17th.

"This morning we had a gearbox pump oil leak on Ralph's car and had to change the engine because some wiring was damaged," said engineering chief Gary Anderson. "He was in the t-car (spare car) for the rest of the session and had a fuel pressure problem at the end, which turned out to be an internal tank problem.

"Giancarlo had no real dramas and we got through our tyre evaluation work. As far as qualifying goes, it's the same as normal. We have to be quicker and there's a lot to do."

Jordan also yesterday announced that former Reynard boss Rick Gorne will join them in a consultancy role on new business acquisition.

Jordan have struggled to bring in sponsorship in recent months, though they did announce a new deal with electronics company Tiger Telematics on Thursday, and Gorne will be charged with sourcing more of the same type of deal.