Berger Rebuffs Ralf over Call for Team Orders

BMW Motorsports director Gerhard Berger has rebuffed reported remarks by Ralf Schumacher suggesting that Williams should consider team orders to prevent clashes on the track.

Schumacher and Colombian teammate Juan Pablo Montoya are not friends and have made uneasy colleagues this season, with rookie Montoya delighting in outqualifying the more experienced German in four of the last six races.

However, Ralf won three races in 2001 to Montoya's sole victory at Monza last month, and later the German said Williams should impose team orders in 2002 in order to avoid looking "stupid."

"If Ralf really meant this, then it was the wrong time to say it," said Berger on the German Sport1 website. "When you look at the last four races, the team would have had to concentrate on Montoya."

Montoya has already dismissed any suggestion of a clash between the two drivers next year.

"I wasn't really planning to crash into him in the races," said the Colombian of his teammate. "I haven't crashed into Michael Schumacher this year and I won't crash into Ralf next year."

Berger said in Japan at the weekend that both drivers had showed their strengths at different tracks, with Montoya quicker at high-speed ones, and added they will push each other hard next season.

"We are going to see a better Montoya next year than this year," he warned at Suzuka. "It's just experience. But you also saw a better Ralf Schumacher this year than last year because he was pushed by Montoya even harder. And we will probably see a better Ralf also next year...it's a very good situation."