Montoya Promises Commitment to Williams

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya says he is committed to the Williams team despite having signed a contract to drive for McLaren in 2005.

"I'm 100 percent committed as a Williams driver," Montoya insisted. "We have a realistic chance of winning the championships and neither they nor I want to throw it away. I want to win, we're here to win. Simple. And I will do whatever I can."

Team principal Frank Williams agreed with the driver's self-assessment: "His replacement is a problem for 2005 but I have no doubt about his commitment for 2004," he said. "He is a born racer."

Williams unveiled a radical new Formula One car on Monday to give Montoya and Ralf Schumacher the ammunition to end the longest title drought in the team's history. Williams said he would be disappointed if the BMW-powered team were not first at the end of the year and hailed his drivers as potential champions.

"Our aspirations are probably higher than they were a year ago," declared Frank Williams, whose team finished 2003 as overall runners-up to Ferrari after looking like championship-winners at mid-season.

The team have not won a Formula One title since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 and the new season is set to kick off in March with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher the only man on the starting grid to have won the Championship.