Dennis: DC 'can win the title'

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis has put his full support behind David Coulthard for the 2004 campaign, and claims that the Scot has the ability to fight for the world championship even if he is not going to be a McLaren driver next year.

The Woking team has signed Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005 onwards and is expected to extend Kimi Raikkonen's contract later in the year, although no official announcement has been made on the Finn's future yet. Dennis said today (Friday) that the Scot could even remain with the team, depending on his 2004 fortunes.

"We believe that David will do a good job this year," said Dennis. "If he does a good job then I am sure he'll be employed, possibly by McLaren in one form or another, in 2005.

"He absolutely can win the title. He has everything to gain from this being his best season ever. Both he and Kimi will get absolutely equal equipment, and if David wins the 2004 championship with our car then we will be delighted."

"David accepts that he didn't get his act together in single-lap qualifying last year. But he showed in practices and warm-ups that he can be quick over one lap. We will continue to work with him on that."

Dennis was also asked for details on his negotiations to win Juan Pablo Montoya's signature, and had this to say: "At no stage in the early discussions, or in the first 99% of the negotiations, was money discussed. Money only came up in the last 15 minutes."

Responding to suggestions that he had tried to get Williams to release Montoya a year early, Dennis said: "When I called Frank about the deal, I delivered a throwaway line about swapping drivers. We both laughed."