» New teams to abandon Xtrac hydraulics for Williams’ system

The Williams team could be set to team up with the three new teams – and potentially the thirteenth team, assuming it gets given the green light – to supply its own hydraulics system to them from 2011 onwards.

In 2010, the three new teams – Lotus, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing – have all been supplied with hydraulics systems from Xtrac under an FIA-arranged deal.

However, the Xtrac systems have proven to be very unreliable, prompting Lotus’ technical director Mike Gascoyne to add that they “have not done as good a job as they should have done” in the FIA press conference at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The German-language motorline.cc website is claiming that Williams could stand to benefit from a new supply arrangement, with the team’s technical director Sam Michael (pictured) confirming: “We have been asked, and we have agreed.”

He would not, however, reveal the details of which team, or teams, had approached them with their request.

[Original image via AUTOSPORT]