BAR looking for driver stability

Following the off-track dramas of the last two years, where Jenson Button was involved in disputes between Williams and BAR over his future, the team now have both the Briton and teammate Rubens Barrichello signed up for several years.

And Fry believes that the stability should pay dividends in BAR's bid to recover from the disappointments of 2005.

"For the last couple of years we've had the problem of not knowing whether our number one driver is going to be with us the following year, which is always going to be disruptive," explained Fry.

"Now we know Rubens and Jenson will be with us for several years to come, which is very positive."

Fry also believes that the team's 2006 pairing should help the team reach new heights - because Barrichello should put Button under more pressure that Sato did.

"While Takuma Sato is a very fast driver, he has not been able to consistently challenge for podiums," explained Fry.

"As everyone knows, the biggest competition tends to come from your own teammate and I'm sure Jenson and Rubens will live up to their equal number one status and push each other very hard and thus on to greater heights.

"Rubens also brings with him the experience of not only being a nine times race winner but also of six years with the Championship winning team."

Barrichello is not able to test for BAR until January because he remains under contract to Ferrari until the end of this year - and the Italian outfit have refused to release him early.

Fry added: "At the moment he joins us on 1 January next year and his first test will come in January. Ideally we'd liked him to have started before Christmas, but sadly that hasn't been possible."