JPM questions 'crazy' Button

Montoya, of course, is having his fourth and final season at the Grove team before defecting to McLaren in 2005. His opinion, seemingly, is not based on questions surrounding the competence of the Williams team but on the fact that the current BAR Honda set-up is built around Button.

"I'm amazed," Montoya confessed in Hungary. "I don't understand it. Maybe there's something within the team he doesn't like or something."

Then, in response to the fact that BAR has outperformed Williams this year, Montoya added: "At the moment BAR have got it, and although Williams, probably, can turn it around, BAR can keep it going because with Honda there they are going to keep pushing.

"The whole (BAR) team was built around him (Button). I think it's crazy but it's his choice. And the results were getting better. At the last race, with a 10-place penalty he finished P2. After that, how your mind goes to go somewhere else, I don't know..."

On top of that, Montoya pointed to the fact that while the BAR challenge has been built around Button, with Takuma Sato showing odd flashes of pace, at Williams Button will have to cope with Mark Webber, who will doubtless see himself as a number one in his own right.

"It will interesting to see what happens between Jenson and Mark in the team, with Webber being Australian and Sam Michael (Williams technical director) being Australian, you know..." Montoya smiled.

As far as the rest of the 2004 season is concerned, Montoya himself is in a similar situation, playing out time with a team he will not be with next year.

"It might get quite hard for Jenson, but the team wants to do well," the Colombian pointed out. "I don't think it will be difficult with the engineers, it will be more difficult at the higher end."

Button himself has said that both he and the BAR team will be giving it 100 percent at Hungaroring this weekend (see separate story).