Ralf Schumacher wants to extend his contract with Williams-BMW to 2006, but team-mate Juan-Pablo Montoya, who will drive Jeff Gordon’s Nascar at Indianapolis today, has kept mum on his future plans.
Ralf Schumacher wants to extend his contract with Williams-BMW to 2006, but team-mate Juan-Pablo Montoya, who will drive Jeff Gordon’s Nascar at Indianapolis today, has kept mum on his future plans.
Schumacher’s manager, Willi Weber, on Tuesday said he was confident that the younger brother of five-times world champion Michael would remain with the Williams BMW team until the end of 2006.
Rumours suggested that Schumacher would be replaced at Williams when his contract expired at the end of 2004. Brazilian Grand Prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella has been linked to a drive with Frank Williams’ squad and Ralf was believed to be on Toyota’s shopping list, but Weber has denied approaching any other teams.
“Ralf should stay where he is and sign for BMW Williams for another two years,” Weber said. “Of course, you have to consider several options but I never negotiated with Mercedes or Toyota because I believe Williams is the best team there is for him,” he added.
Most F1 observers believe that the best turn Ralf’s grand prix career could take would be an extension of his Williams BMW contract. However, Montoya has not revealed his plans for the 2005 season and most believe Ferrari’s reluctance to extend Rubens Barrichello’s contract until 2006 would indicate that the Colombian might be on his way to the Scuderia.
Montoya and Nascar superstar Gordon will be driving each other’s racing cars on the road course of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. Montoya will drive Gordon’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the four-times Winston Cup champion will have his first F1 run in a Williams FW24.
“I’m fascinated with the technology involved in Formula 1 racing and am excited about the chance to drive an F1 car,” said Gordon. “It should be a lot of fun to see firsthand what F1 drivers face during a lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
“I think Jeff’s going to have a good time,” Montoya said. “I think he’ll be surprised by the performance of the car. It’s a completely different style because the limit of the car is so high”.
The Monaco Grand Prix winner is equally excited by the prospect of driving a stock car for the first time. “I think it will be pretty exciting,” he said. “It’s going to move around a lot. It’s going to take a long time to slow down compared with what I’m used to, but it will be fun.”
