Montoya: Button good enough to win

Montoya burst onto the grand prix scene this year taking his maiden win at Monza, while Button struggled after switching to the Benetton team to make way for Juan Pablo.

The young Brit scored just two points and was overshadowed by more experienced team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. However, Montoya believes that the form Button showed in his debut season means he can still win, and that the pressure to produce results at Benetton was the likely culprit for a poor 2001.

"He did some fantastic races in 2000," said Montoya, "I guess at Benetton he felt so much pressure to perform that he didn't. He needs to take a step back and look at everything. He can do it. He just needs someone to tell him he is doing a good job and to take it easy."

Despite an impressive rookie year in F1, 1999 CART champion Montoya admits to struggling in his second year across the Atlantic.

"There were 14 times I didn't finish," he said. "But as long as you do your best, everything will be fine. That is easy for me to say I know, but for Jenson it is not easy to think like that. He just needs to forget about everything else, really focus and just enjoy driving the car. If he does that, he will be fine."

Despite giving up his Williams seat for Montoya, Button remains under contract to the Grove-based team and could return at the end of next year, depending on both his performance at Benetton, now Renault, and how Montoya's team mate Ralf Schumacher fares during 2002.