The ramifications of Jacques Villeneuve's extraordinary performance in Melbourne for the first F1 race of the season are intriguing and could be far-reaching. Not the least of these is the dilemma into which he may plunge his team boss. One of his drivers should win the world championship of 1996. The question is, which one will he plump for now?

At the start of the season, it was logical to assume that Damon Hill would be the team's hopeful, and Jacques would learn his trade, support Damon by keeping some points from the rest of the field, and duly challenge for the title in 1997. At some stage during the year team orders would come into play and Jacques would have to start playing second fiddle during the races.

However, after last weekend, it is quite likely that both Frank Williams and Patrick Head will have to put all the ingredients back into the blender. It cannot be beneficial for Damon Hill to be pressured by Villeneuve to the extent that it undermines his own confidence. Hill is a very good driver but he needs the status of undisputed number one. He can often be plagued by self-doubt, which manifests itself during races. An aggressive and precociously talented team-mate will not help his cause towards the world title. And if Hill remains the Williams team's title aspirant, what then do they do with Jacques IF he continues to perform so far above their expectations? What if he is equal in the points after three or four races? Will he be told to pull his head in and back off, destroying his own title chances? Possibly, but as an example of man-management this cannot be recommended. It would be a risky move at best.

Either way of course the constructor's championship is not affected, if Williams are unchallenged at the top of the ladder. But to have his two drivers squabbling over the prize while other teams zoom in on the crumbs is also self-destructive for Williams. If Ferrari or Benetton improve their performances markedly, which cannot be discounted, the thought of another Schumacher-Hill duel for the title will not be one that Frank Williams will approach with any confidence. As we saw in Melbourne, the man with the "don't mess with me" attitude in the Williams team is Jacques Villeneuve. He will have the aggression and the self-belief to tackle outside contenders for the title. He has already earned his rivals' respect. If it comes down to Williams v Ferrari, then Villeneuve is the man Williams will want to do the job. Schumacher knows all about Hill and has him psychologically covered. Villeneuve is an unknown quantity.

Ferrari, luckily for them, have no such internal wrangles. Sure, Irvine is a promising driver and drove an excellent race in Melbourne. But Ferrari didn't fork out $30 million so that Irvine could challenge for the title.

It will be interesting to see how the Williams team react to this dilemma in the coming months. I suspect for another three races or so, the internal battle will be allowed to develop naturally, but after that I expect both team heads will have to make a clear decision which driver they will back for the championship.

Of course all of this depends upon whether Villeneuve can duplicate the form and the results he has shown so far. He may find this beyond him after all, and lose substantial ground to Hill over the next few races, in which case the game plan reverts to the status quo. But one thing everyone learned in Melbourne was not to underestimate this guy. He also knows if he wants to win the title, he must stamp his authority on Hill early and keep the pressure on. Either way it will make the next three races crucial to both men and decisive in the title outcome.

Mandy is a 37 year old female from Australia who is married to an airline pilot. She occasionally races an Aussie V8 "not very well around Sydney." This is Mandy's second article in Atlas Team F1. The first one was called "Jacques Villeneuve - In His Own Tracks" and appeared in our 1995 Portugal Issue.