Button Confident Facing Challenging Year for BAR

Briton Jenson Button believes his revamped BAR team can one day take him all the way to the Formula One title.

"I want to be World Champion and I believe that they are capable of taking me there," the Briton said in a statement before the launch of the new BAR 005 car in Barcelona.

The team, formerly known as British American Racing or BAR, also announced a change of image and corporate identity.

"The team's image is cleaner, more simple and much stronger and the name has been rationalised to B·A·R rather than BAR or British American Racing," a statement said.

Team boss David Richards, who took over a year ago and said at the 2002 launch that the team aimed for wins this season before trying to take the title, said 2003 would be a challenging year.

"But we have made a substantial step forward over the winter," he added. "I am confident that we will make significant progress towards our long term target of winning the World Championship.

"None of the other teams have been standing still, though, so we will need to stretch ourselves throughout the entire season to achieve our goals.

"With a much improved car, Jacques Villeneuve will now be able to demonstrate his extraordinary talent whilst Jenson Button, with three seasons under his belt, is well-positioned to challenge the frontrunners."

Button is arriving at BAR after two seasons at Renault and a debut year at Williams in 2000. He has yet to win a race or finish on the podium.

BAR finished eighth overall last season with seven points.

Villeneuve, the 1997 champion at Williams, faces a make-or-break year while Japan's Takuma Sato arrived from Jordan as test driver.

"Together with our third driver Takuma Sato I feel that BAR now has a driver line-up that is the match of any in Formula One," said Richards.