Jenson will be OK says Head

"It's a long time since we ran Jacques in 1998," said Head, who has worked closely with both Villeneuve and, more recently, Button at Williams. "He was certainly an individual character. I don't think it was deliberate but back then often everyone in the team would think it was Heinz-Harald Frentzen who would achieve the position but somehow, between Jacques and his engineer Jock Clear, they would pupm each other up and come up with the goods on Saturday afternoon.

"That certainly used to concern Heinz-Harald Frentzen because he had been through all the 'I've got him in this meeting' kind of feelings, when suddenly he hadn't.

"I think Jenson is a strong-minded individual who knows his strength and his ability and I don't think he'll have any problem holding his end up against whoever is in the other car - and from what I understand, it hasn't been made clear whether that will be Jacques or Olivier Panis.

"I don't think that any of Jenson's other team mates, Ralf, Giancarlo Fisichella or Jarno Trulli are a pushover. Last year Jenson had a big problem in the early part of the year because I don't think he had ever climbed into an undriveable Formula 1 car before, whereas a driver in his fifth or sixth year is going to cope a bit bette. Certainly, last year's Benetton was a difficult car to drive. I think Jenson will be okay next year."