Webber: Williams on irreversible downward spiral.

Mark Webber has delivered a stinging rebuke to the Williams team for which he drove over the past two grand prix seasons, suggesting the cash-strapped Grove-based outfit is now on a downward spiral from which it may never recover.

The straight-talking Aussie accused Williams of nearly destroying his career in the top flight, after he had gone there believing it would be where he would see out the rest of his Formula One days. The British concern has claimed as many as 16 world titles in its 31-year history in the uppermost echelon, but has not now won a race since 2004 and the best Webber could manage last year was a brace of sixth places and a lowly 14th position in the end-of-season drivers' standings.

"I thought I would go to Williams and then finish my career at Williams," the 30-year old told Australian newspaper the Herald Sun, "but it was a tough gig for the credibility of a lot of people. That's what happens when there's such a huge drop in form."

Webber, who will drive for Red Bull Racing in 2007, also accused Williams of having slipped into the role of being a Toyota 'B' team, and predicted it would be difficult for the squad to now arrest its downward spiral in an age increasingly dominated by manufacturer-led outfits.

"It looks tough for them," he stated, "it really does. They might have new engines, but not a lot has changed in the structure, so there's no real reason why the results should be any different for them this year.

"Williams is now a Toyota 'B' team. There will be denials, but there is a feeling and a perception that a 'B' team is actually how it is. I'm sure they will be working hard to beat Toyota, but Toyota in Japan will obviously prefer any success to come to the factory team."

What's more, the Toyota powerplant will mark Williams' third change in as many seasons, following its acrimonious split with BMW in 2005 and the axing of last year's privateer Cosworth engine. In a sport where consistency is key Webber believes this could be telling, especially for an organisation that over the past two seasons he claimed had been the very model of inconsistency.

"When we launched last year's car, we just had nothing on it that was interesting to give you a step forward compared to the other guys, you know, mechanically or aerodynamically," he said. "It just wasn't reliable enough on the days when it was fast enough, and it wasn't fast enough on the days it was reliable enough.

"Turkey was a classic example for us. I just made the top ten (in qualifying), came out of turn one in fourth and had a faultless race - but we got smashed in times, with the 14th-fastest race lap. I would get to the point of finishing races 20 or 30 seconds behind Kimi (Raikkonen) after 90 minutes of racing, knowing he was in a McLaren and I was in a Williams and knowing that wasn't a bad effort over a race distance with what we had, but it's not what I went there to do."

Webber said although he believed his future would now be brighter following his switch to Red Bull, he remained sad that a team with as rich and glorious a racing heritage as Williams could have endured such a dramatic fall from grace in recent years.

"Williams' finances are stretched," he said. "We have a Bahrain test at the end of the month which will be good, but Williams can't go because of its finances. Williams has still got great resources at the factory and that's why it's so hard to believe what's happened there."