No excuses for Montoya

"No excuses," says Juan Pablo: 2004 is the farewell season for Juan Pablo Montoya with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. In a team interview he talks about his ambition to become World Champion.

Q: Will the news about your future for 2005 and beyond affect next season?

Juan Pablo Montoya with the new WilliamsF1 BMW FW26.

Photo by BMW PressClub.

Juan Pablo Montoya: No, categorically not. Both the BMW WilliamsF1 Team and I share one mutual interest in 2004, and that is to win races. I have explained to the team that they have my 100% commitment for the season ahead, and naturally nothing would be better than winning a title. In response, the team has confirmed that they will give me their full support.

Q: Why are you leaving the BMW WilliamsF1 Team after the 2004 season?

JPM: There are many reasons, and it was a very difficult decision. Only time will tell if I made the right choice, as both teams are at the very top of Formula One and are expert and very professional. The decision was not all about money as some newspapers have said, and it certainly wasn't because I don't think the BMW WilliamsF1 Team can win titles, as I expect and hope we will be doing exactly that this year. Sometimes it's as simple as the new challenge, and by the end of this season, I will have been with the team for four years, which is probably longer than the average time a driver stays with one team.

Q: What did winning at Monaco last season mean to you?

JPM: It really meant a huge amount. I think it was a more difficult win than my Indy 500 victory, but equally important in terms of its prestige, so I guess it is therefore my ultimate career win. It was also great to see the emotion in people like Patrick (Head) who have been coming to Monaco for a quarter of a century, and somehow on all but a couple of occasions in the early eighties, winning has been elusive for him there. So it is great to be able to break that run for the team. I also think Monaco signalled a turnaround for the team during the season and from this point on, we got stronger and stronger.

Q: So what about 2004?

JPM: Well, if we're all honest, after a great mid-season run, we didn't finish 2003 so well. Winter hopefully gives us the time to reflect on all the shortcomings, and I know our main intention is to come out fighting from Australia, no excuses. In seasons gone by, we have always looked to see where the opposition is after the winter. I hope this year that the other teams at least will have as much concern about our performance as we traditionally do about theirs.

-williams-