Montoya gets new Williams contract to 2004

Juan Pablo Montoya will be rewarded with a new contract to stay with the BMW Williams team to the end of the 2004 season, setting alarm bells ringing even more loudly for Jenson Button.

The Colombian, who underlined at Silverstone that he is still the man most likely to topple Michael Schumacher, will partner Ralf Schumacher for two more years, closing the door on Button's return to Williams. He will be paid £4.5m a year and would thereafter be in pole position to switch to Ferrari should the elder Schumacher retire as many expect.

Button hopes an apparent ambiguity in the wording of his original contract with Williams means the team cannot refuse him a drive. But with Ralf Schumacher contracted until 2004 the English driver is likely to find himself out in the cold and searching for a new team.

Button is on loan to Renault until the end of this season but it seems the French team are trying to oust him in favour of Fernando Alonso, who, together with Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber, is handled by the management company of Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal. Renault sources hint that Briatore wants to slash Button's retainer by £2m to £1m for 2003, hoping this will force the 22-year-old to look elsewhere for a job.

The prospect of his driving for Jaguar if he is dropped by Renault seemed strong until the British grand prix on Sunday, where the aerodynamically revised Jaguar R3 showed itself to be hopelessly uncompetitive.

"It was a complete disaster," admitted the Jaguar team principal Niki Lauda. Button is worried that if he signs for Jaguar he may sink without trace unless the team improve markedly in 2003.

In the meantime he is exploring other options with Toyota, who may have a vacancy if they drop Allan McNish, and the BAR-Honda team, where Olivier Panis's place may be under threat. There is also the possibility he could replace the erratic Felipe Massa in the Sauber squad.

Button said last week: "There is a misconception when it comes to the terms of my contract with Williams. It is not the case that BMW Williams can be rid of me. I have the option to go back, not as a test driver but as one of the two race drivers."

Technically Button could take legal action in an attempt to force Williams to take him back but his management fear that would merely turn the team against him for good. No one at Williams was available for comment yesterday.

· The sports minister Richard Caborn has congratulated the organisers of the British grand prix on a "job well done" - and revealed his regret at Rob Bain's decision to quit. Bain, the chief executive of Silverstone's leaseholder Octagon Motorsports, resigned after criticism from the formula oneringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.

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