Williams not denying Sam Michael axe rumours

Williams chairman Adam Parr on Sunday refused to deny speculation the struggling team might oust its technical director Sam Michael.

The famous Grove-based squad has had a difficult start to the 2011 championship and Parr told Reuters the main problems are in the technical areas.

"If Sam thought that the right thing for the team is for him to stop, he’d stop tomorrow. He wouldn’t even quibble. He will do whatever is necessary for the team," he said.

Parr admitted that Williams "will be changing things" in the near future and said only organisational restructuring is not enough.

"You can’t change what we are doing without changing people," he said, admitting that some of the decisions will be "tough".

Rubens Barrichello’s FW33 was fitted with a Red Bull-style exhaust earlier in Shanghai but it was removed for qualifying.

"There are other areas (too) where we’ve just not been smart enough," said Parr. "We’re not lacking in creativity or ambition but it’s not enough.

"There are other people who are being more creative and more ambitious," he added.