Ralf Schumacher may be starting his Formula One career with the Jordan-Peugeot team next year. If he does he will enter Formula One the same way his big brother did before moving to Benetton to clinch two world championship titles in a row.

Ian Phillips, team manager of Jordan, said: " Yes we want him. Not because his name is Schumacher, but because he is incredibly fast and could be champion. We last spoke with Ralf on Wednesday and he should give his answer by Monday.

Schumacher, who tested for McLaren last week, did not get a seat at McLaren, according to reports, because they didn't want a rookie driver. However, because of McLaren's sponsorship change to a German cigarette company, West, it could still be that Ralf is going to drive a McLaren next year if the sponsor really wants it.

Michael Breen, Damon Hill's lawyer, has announced that the talks with the Williams team are terminated. Frank Williams did not give a reason why he didn't want Hill in 1997, but he did say it was not a financial one.

Breen said: "We only began negotiating with Frank in mid-August. Needless to say, both Damon and I were very surprised and Disappointed by the news."

No official word has been given on Hill's replacement, but Heinz-Harald Frentzen seems the probable choice. Ironically, Ordwin Podlech, Frentzen's manager, was in the United States on Saturday contacting IndyCar teams as a safety measure for his driver.

Hill has already started talks with rival teams. He is negotiating with Jacky Stewart, who will be entering Formula One with his own team next year, Jordan and he was already linked with McLaren.