Blundell: Montoya is one in a million.

Juan Montoya deserves his place in Formula One according to CART series rival Mark Blundell, who compares the Colombian with the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

The odds of Montoya switching back across the Atlantic to join Williams in F1 are shortening by the day, if rumours are to be believed, and Blundell believes that the 24-year old will give championship rivals Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen a run for their money whenever he joins Williams.

''I raced against Ayrton and Michael in Formula One, and considered them to be two incredibly gifted drivers,'' Blundell told Britain's Daily Mail, ''and now that I've raced against Juan in CART, it is my belief that he is one of those exceptional talents that only comes along once in a while.

''He simply doesn't make many mistakes. He has an arrogant streak - like both Michael and Ayrton - but only in the sense that he is convinced that he has the ability to get the job done successfully. I can quite easily understand why Frank Williams wants him back.

''I know that there will be people back home [in Britain] who will say that Montoya looks good in America, and that F1 has more technically demanding cars and circuits. But he has gone out on unfamiliar circuits over here, on cold tyres, and been lightening quick. That, to me, is the hallmark of a really good driver.

''People will say that, if he is replaced, Jenson has been harshly treated, but the point is that, for all his promise, Jenson hasn't come close to Montoya's achievements. Juan has done the lot - from Formula Vauxhall to F3 to F3000 to CART. He won the title last year and now the Indy 500 this year.''

Montoya finally broke his Y2K CART duck at Milwaukee last weekend, and has moved back into the top five overall, just 15 points adrift of series leader Paul Tracy.