Grapevine: Williams Rumoured to Have Re-Signed JPM

Reports in the British press claim that Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya has sealed a deal to race alongside current teammate Ralf Schumacher at Williams-BMW for a further two years.

Montoya, who made his debut in Formula One last year, is reported by the Guardian to have secured a £4.5 million per year two-season deal which, if true, would end Briton Jenson Button's hopes of a return.

A spokesman for the Grove-based team was unable to contact Sir Frank Williams, but said that recently the team boss had "been adamant that no announcement would be made until the end of August."

As the contracts market merry-go-round begins to get into full spin, strong rumours suggest that Spaniard Fernando Alonso will take Button's place at Renault, leaving the young Briton out in the cold.

It has been reported that Button has already been asked to take a £2 million pay cut if he wishes to stay at with the Anglo-French team in 2003, in a bid to push him out the door.

It seems his likely destination will be Jaguar, as the struggling Milton Keynes-based team look to have failed to find the performance from a new aerodynamic package that could have convinced Ulsterman Eddie Irvine to stay.

Button, who is still contracted to Williams but is driving for Renault on a two-year loan, is believed to have two years of his Williams contract left to run, although his loan period comes to an end this season.

It was suggested in a recent British press story that he could try to use an ambiguous clause in his contract to prise a drive with Williams, but a spokesperson said that the team have simply "dismissed" that story.