FORMULA ONE/Japanese Grand Prix: For months Jacques Villeneuve has insisted his racing future is in Formula One and that he will be racing for BAR in 2003 in Suzuka.

Yesterday, though, the Canadian changed his tune dramatically as he admitted he could leave the sport but only on the condition he is guaranteed a route back into Formula One.

Villeneuve was a visitor to last weekend's US Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race in Miami, part of a series which in recent months has been touted as a new home for the 1997 F1 champion, with the Players Forsythe team believed to have been behind a $50 million offer to lure Villeneuve away from BAR.

That offer was received warmly by BAR boss David Richards, who is keen to save the reported $12 million annual fee Villeneuve receives from BAR.

Richards is believed to be seeking a sabbatical for Villeneuve, which would allow the team to sort out its technical problems before bringing the Canadian back for a championship challenge.

The CART offer was rejected out of hand by Villeneuve's manager and former BAR chief Craig Pollock, however, who insisted Villeneuve would see out the remaining year of his three-season deal with BAR.

Yesterday, though, Villeneuve admitted he might consider such a sabbatical, but only if he was guaranteed a return to FI. "Formula One is the top level of motorsport racing so anything else could only be acceptable if you have the security of coming back after," he said when asked if he would like to race again in the US, as he did in 1995 when he won the Indianapolis 500.

He denied, however, there was any offer on the table from a US team. "There is nothing at the moment, no."

Richards insisted, however, the travails that have characterised his relationship with Villeneuve since the Englishman took over at the team in January are at an end and that Villeneuve will stay with the team. "Jacques has a contract and he will be staying at BAR."

He added that the timing of the offer from the US had not suited any transfer and had been scuppered when Olivier Panis opted to leave BAR for a berth at Toyota in 2003. "We would have needed to find a replacement for Jacques and when the time drifted on and when Olivier had the offer from Toyota it wasn't practical for the team and I think Jacques wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it. He wants to stay in Formula One, he's a Formula One driver and he's committed to the sport. He wants to be here and I'm very pleased he will be in the team next year."

Richards has been known to dissemble in the past, however, and yesterday rumours were rife that an announcement from BAR regarding its driver line-up for next year would be made this morning at Suzuka.

That could position Takuma Sato for a move to a race seat at Honda-powered BAR. The heavy betting until yesterday had been that Sato would return to the test driver's role he occupied at BAR prior to his joining Jordan at the end of last season on a two-year deal.

On Thursday, Sato insisted he would be in Formula One next year and that his contract meant he would race with Jordan. The Irish team, however, has long been linked with Eddie Irvine and with Honda possibly able to place Sato within the team it supplies engines to, the last runners on the driver merry-go-round that been whirling since May could finally find their places just as the season winds to a close in the Far East.

On track yesterday, McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen set the marker for rivals to beat with a 1:34.232, almost half a second quicker than team-mate David Coulthard. Third fastest was Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello with the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya, who suffered a spectacular off in the second session, and Ralf Schumacher fourth and fifth respectively.

Michael Schumacher, who had dominated the first session, slipped to sixth by the close of the afternoon session after being sidelined for much of the hour with a hydraulic problem.

"We'll have to analyse what went wrong, but I'm not concerned about this for tomorrow's qualifying session as I'm sure we'll be competitive even if the gap between us and the non-Bridgestone teams seems a bit closer than usual," he said.

The Michelin runners were closer than in recent races and the stable nature of the French company's cars not only boosted McLaren and Williams but also Jaguar, who finished the day with Irvine in seventh and Pedro De la Rosa three tenths further back. Irvine, though, was sanguine about his chances.

"The lap times look impressive but I think we're in for a hard weekend at this circuit," said the Irishman. "The first session was quite tough, particularly with a lack of rear grip. I was losing time in places I normally wouldn't expect too, but the team made some positive changes to the car during the second session. Qualifying well is so important at Suzuka because of the overtaking difficulties here and from looking at our lap times, I think our (midfield) group is going to be very tight indeed."

Jordan had a trouble-free start to the weekend, with Giancarlo Fisichella just making the top 10 and Sato, taking to his home circuit in a F1 car for the first time, 13th.

"There were no real problems for us today, which is good," said race and test team engineering chief Gary Anderson. "We worked on fuel loads for the race and tyre durability and we're pretty happy. Takuma had a spin on the corner just before the underpass but he recovered well. He flat-spotted the tyres, though, so he didn't get a long enough run on one of the tyre types.

"Giancarlo got a reasonable run on them, though, so it was no major drama," he added. "The car is a little nervous and the drivers would like it to be a little more comfortable through the S bends, so we've got a bit of work to get a more stable balance."