Dennis: Montoya will Improve at McLaren

Brazilian Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya will be a better driver at McLaren than he was at Williams, according to team boss Ron Dennis.

"Juan Pablo's career is still on the up and we believe he will be an even better racing driver in our team than he has been so far," he told reporters at the season-ending race at Interlagos.

Montoya ended Williams's drought on Sunday with the BMW-powered team's first win since he triumphed at Hockenheim in Germany in August 2003.

The Colombian signed a contract with McLaren last year and Interlagos was his farewell to Williams. He will partner Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, second on Sunday, in 2005.

Dennis dismissed fears that the outspoken and at times impetuous Colombian might be an odd fit at a team with a strong corporate image.

"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," said the Briton, who had the late Brazilian champion Ayrton Senna in his team for six highly successful years.

"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," he added.

"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 [Mercedes motorsport director] Norbert [Haug] 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."

McLaren won just one race this year, with Raikkonen in Belgium, and finished fifth overall -- their lowest placing since 1983.

However they were champions in 1984 and Dennis was confident the problems of the start of the new year were over and his new line-up would be strong from the start.

"I'm just delighted that we've got two great drivers next year," he said. "There are obviously high expectations but I don't think that's a problem. We can live with that."

Haug added: "We need to give them the right technical package and cars and then we are strong. We want to be back where we were in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and winning races on a regular basis.

"The first half of the season was not what we wanted but since introducing the 19B (car) we are working in the right direction."