Williams team fuming after McLaren.....

The Williams formula one team were left fuming yesterday when their arch-rivals McLaren announced that they had secured Juan Pablo Montoya's services for the 2005 season.

The Colombian's switch will mark the end of David Coulthard's association with McLaren, nine years at the end of next season. It is expected that the Scot may move to Toyota or Jaguar, where he could replace Mark Webber who is tipped as a replacement for Montoya at Williams.

"We believe that we can manage Montoya and get the very best out of him," said Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren managing director. "We think we can harness all the passion which makes him such an aggressive and super-fast driver. It will be an exciting challenge to unlock all his potential."

Williams were hoping that the official announcement about Montoya would not be made public yet as they are in the middle of talks with their other driver Ralf Schumacher, whose contract also expires at the end of 2004. He is seeking a rise from US$13m (£7.5m) to US$18m a year.

Knowing that Montoya is out of the equation is expected to strengthen Schumacher's hand in the negotiations, which are being conducted by Willi Weber, the Stuttgart businessman who has masterminded the careers of both Ralf and Michael since before they entered formula one.

Montoya, who was irked by the fact that he was earning only around US$6m at Williams, is believed to have signed a deal which will earn him around US$9.5m in 2005. Michael Schumacher is the highest paid driver of all, at US$25m a year with Ferrari.

Montoya, who finished third in this year's drivers' world championship - behind Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen - said that he was delighted to be joining McLaren. "The team is consistently a strong world championship contender and has a fantastic heritage," said the 28-year-old.

"To join them is an amazing challenge and an experience which I plan to enjoy fully. However my short-term aim is to concentrate 100% on winning the 2004 world championship."

Montoya's relationship with Williams was never the same after the French grand prix in July when he shouted abuse over the radio to the engineers on the pit wall after mistakenly assuming that they had given Ralf Schumacher preferential treatment over pit stops.

"It will certainly be a bit odd going into next year knowing that one of your drivers has already signed for another team," said Patrick Head, the Williams technical director. "We're obviously having discussions with other people, so we shall see what develops."

Martin Brundle, who manages Coulthard's business career, was sanguine about the situation. "We have known about it for some time," he said. "It is obviously not a great day for David but it is certainly not the end of his career.

"We don't need to look for other opportunities until the middle of next year. We have a contractual position with McLaren in 2004 which we are confident with. A lot can happen over a season."

Hallo djfux69,

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I've heard rumors of BMW splitting with williams too. That would be harsh.

if bmw splits with williams... who would make their motors? lol. i couldnt imagine the body itself having 800+ hp. even with those stickers and huge wing!!!. lol dont get me wrong , im not saying that F1 is rice. im just being dumb.

I've heard rumors of BMW splitting with williams too. That would be harsh.

They have a contract until 2008

I think you guyz have a few things confused here. F1 Magazine ran a story a few weeks back with the heading: "Williams is talking with Jaguar". Everybody on the net who didn't read the complete article thought that Williams was dumping BMW for Jaguar. But if you would read the complete article you would find out that Williams is talking with Jaguar to buy out Mark Webber as their second place.

As far as Coulthard goes, good riddance. I never liked that asshole anywayz. From the days he was second at Williams behind Demon Hill. He's only there to win, which is always nice, but things like being a good sport totaly elude him. He is so full of himself, once he said that he made the team happen not the other way around. Somebody should whoop his ass up and down the track.

Heinz Harald Frentzen and David Coulthard, can't wait to see them leave.

I read an article, and a few odd posts saying that BMW is already planning not to renew in '08, because they feel they can succesfully have their own in house F1 team. I don't know where williams would get motors, and that would hurt, seeing as BMW's motors are the best. I suppose Ford's F1 motors are good an cheap!

From what I have read in the current issue of BMW Magazine, the BMW/Williams relationship is going strong. But you know BMW could form their own winning team easily.

Setting up a winning team isn't something you do overnight, specialy with the hard competiton. I think BMW did well by first going with the Williams thing. It gives them a good playground so they can permit mistakes. Once they learn the tricks of the trade they can stand on their own.

they already have all the prestige in engines, i think they are could do a lot better with their own team. The only problem is that williams would be left high and dry.

Sad. Oh well

It will take at least 2-3 years, before they would be competetive. They don't have the knowledge(F1) in brakes, gearboxes, electronics and so on. And they don't have the facilities, especially the windtunnels.

So the best solution would be to stay with Williams, maybe buy a stake in Williams, just like Mercedes/McLaren.

Hallo djfux69,

schau doch mal hier zum Thema Motorsport (Anzeige)? Eventuell gibt es dort etwas Passendes.

Der V16 Motor zum Selberbauen (Anzeige) ist auch genial.

I think BMW will manage just fine in the F1 world.