A report in Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, suggests that serious consideration is being given to renaming the Jaguar F1 team - Ford.

Apparently, faced with the prospect of losing a couple of sponsors, most notably HSBC, which is pulling out of F1 (race car) sponsorship at the end of the year, Ford is faced with having to increase its own financial input.

The article reports that HSBC currently contributes $38m a year, and that if it pulls out, Ford would have to up its contribution to $80m - or $11.4m a point, as of Hungary.

Despite rumours linking the Milton Keynes outfit with a buy-out by Red Bull, which apparently contributes $50m a year, it appears that the deal won't happen, the situation being hampered by a disagreement over naming rights - basically the new name of the team. Furthermore, Christian Klien looks likely to be leaving the team at the end of the year, Red Bull boss Dieter Mateschitz unhappy with the Austrian's progress.

Since the buy-out of Stewart, the Jaguar team has had a torrid time, with many within Ford questioning the amount of money being spent on a project that is not proving advantageous to the company name.

The powers that be within Ford have made it quite clear that they will not get involved in a spending war with the likes of Toyota, BMW, Honda or Mercedes, and only recently team boss Tony Purnell couldn't guarantee, when asked by Bernie Ecclestone, whether Jaguar/Ford will be on the grid in 2005.

David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi are two of the names currently linked with the Milton Keynes outfit for next year.