Theissen: Williams better than expected

The Williams-BMW squad has become a consistent frontrunner this year, the Munich marque's second in Formula 1, by taking the fight to Ferrari and McLaren. Juan Pablo Montoya has taken pole position in three of the last five races, took his maiden win at Monza and looked set to finish first again at Indianapolis last weekend, before he was stopped by a hydraulics problem.

The Grove-based outfit is expected to be a championship challenger in 2002, but Theissen says he did not expect the team to be so successful this year.

"We are already looking back at a very successful season," said Theissen. "Four wins, four pole positions and seven fastest race laps is much more than we could have expected for only the second year of our Formula 1 project."

The Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher have enjoyed a power advantage for much of the year due to their BMW V10 and Theissen believes the extra grunt will again be an advantage in Japan.

"Now we hope for a good race result to round off the season. In terms of engine power we are well prepared for the Suzuka circuit," he added.

While Schumacher has taken three wins so far this year, the German has been overshadowed by his Colombian team mate in recent races. However, he is optimistic heading to Suzuka - his favourite track.

"Suzuka is my favourite circuit on the race calendar and it is one of the most difficult," said Schumacher. "It is not easy to be quick here as you have to know the track very well. It is also very positive that the safety has improved for this year. The only downside is it is very difficult to overtake here, and there is only one place where it is possible. I am hoping for a better result for us than in the US."

Schumacher Jr ended his testing in Barcelona early this week to get married near his home in Austria today (Friday). The 26-year-old tied the knot with fiancee Cora Brinkmann in a small ceremony, with just a few friends present. Schumacher's elder brother and world champion Michael did not attend.