No Williams title in 2002, says Berger

According to today's (Thursday's) Autosport magazine, Berger has warned Williams-BMW drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya that even with another winter of development behind it, the Grove-based team cannot expect to vie for next year's championships due to a lack of consistency.

"I don't think we are in a situation where we can win a championship next year," Berger told Autosport. "We have achieved the goals we set this year and have set some goals for next year that we will try to achieve.

"You never know what can happen, but we still have a long way to go to be consistent on all race tracks and to be competitive with Ferrari and McLaren in all situations."

Williams has been challenging for victories in recent races, but dropped off the pace during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend, with both drivers struggling to qualify in the top 10, well behind the 'big two' teams.

Schumacher agrees that the team needs to work to improve its consistency and the German has made known his frustration over the vagaries in his FW23's performance from track to track.

"It is very frustrating," said Schumacher, "because in one race we are fighting for pole position and then in another we are fighting for 10th place. There is not a lot of consistency and it needs to be sorted out."

Team owner Sir Frank Williams echoed Berger's sentiments by saying that his team would be fortunate to win more races this year, let alone a championship in 2002, although he did hint that next year's constructors' title might be a possibility.

"We'll be lucky to win another race or two this year," said Williams, "so I don't anticipate a solid run of wins - not yet, anyway. The 2002 constructors' championship is a realistic goal. This year our objective is to get the best from each test to improve our reliability and not to squander our chances."