Whitmarsh: Montoya fired up for 2006

That is the view of McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who claims that Montoya has moved up a gear in his approach to Formula One over the winter in his bid to not be beaten by Raikkonen again.

Montoya had to play a supporting role to his teammate in the second half of last season, having missed several races through injury, and McLaren are predicting that he will not readily accept second best this time around.

"I do sense that Juan Pablo Montoya has got the bit between his teeth," Whitmarsh said, adding the renewed motivation is not as a result of the team signing Fernando Alonso for 2007. "I think he has tried to take another step.

"During the course of last season I think he improved his game in several ways, but he sees potential to grow and develop in the team, and he is working like hell away from the car with the engineers and his trainer.

"I think he senses he was able to show from time to time that he was quicker than Kimi - and that is what we want in the team. We want two guys who believe in themselves, believe they can win races and believe in each other.

"Sometimes it can go wrong in those circumstances, but both guys have a lot of confidence in their ability, in their marketability, and I hope they see McLaren as an attractive option in 2007. At some stage this year we will all have decisions to take."

With only one seat available at McLaren in 2007, there will be an extra edge to the Raikkonen/Montoya battle this season - even though both men are believed to already have several offers on the table.

And Whitmarsh has no concerns about the situation McLaren are in - having signed Alonso - even though it means losing one of their current star drivers.

"I think Juan's self belief and confidence are higher than they have ever been," added Whitmarsh. "He believes he can beat Kimi and believes he has the pace to do so. That is a good place to be for him and his motivation.

"Likewise Kimi probably believes he has the measure of Juan. We have two quick and motivated racing drivers, which is a good position to be in.

"Why sign Alonso? The opportunity arose and we saw someone who wanted to commit to the longer-term future of the team, was ready to do so in his mind, and we felt we should not miss the opportunity."