25/10/2004
NEWS STORY
If Juan Pablo Montoya was delighted at his return to form in Brazil, so too was new employer Ron Dennis, who in recent months - as the Colombian appeared to lose motivation - must have found himself thinking if there was a possible 'Button-like' loophole in the contract that might allow him to prevent the feisty former CART star from joining his team.
However, yesterday's emphatic victory was clear proof that the might Montoya has lost none of his drive, and raw aggression. Dennis believes that at McLaren, the Colombian can only get better.
"Juan Pablo's career is still on the up," the Englishman told reporters at Interlagos, "and we believe he will be an even better racing driver in our team than he has been so far.
"We had the very first conversation as regards next year and I think it's very apparent to us that Juan Pablo is very receptive to our thinking and to our advice," continued Dennis. "We do not tell drivers what to do, we help drivers have a better understanding of why change or asking them to change is in their interests. They can measure, subsequent to adopting our suggestions, whether it has made them a better racing driver or not.
"I am firmly convinced, as is Norbert, that it will be a different environment in which he will find himself and we will get the best out of him, which I think is yet to come," added the McLaren boss.
Seeing Montoya lead home his 2005 teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, gave Dennis, and the F1 world, a brief glimpe of what might be, in the seasons to come.
"I'm just delighted that we've got two great drivers next year," said the Englishman. "There are obviously high expectations but I don't think that's a problem. We can live with that."