Williams finally signs Montoya.

In an announcement even less surprising than Jaguar's unveiling of Bobby Rahal as team boss, Williams today revealed that reigning CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya will partner Ralf Schumacher in 2001.

After much wrangling, denial and stalling on both sides, Montoya is being released with the blessing of Chip Ganassi and will replace Jenson Button at Williams next year. The Colombian formerly tested with the Grove outfit, and was on loan to the Ganassi CART team for a maximum of three years. Afraid that he would lose the driver rated as a potential Schumacher-beater, Williams worked tirelessly to bring Montoya back to Formula One before he became a free agent for 2002.

The 1998 F3000 champion has signed a two-year deal with Williams, and will replace Jenson Button behind the wheel of next year's FW23-BMW. Button, who has starred on occasion in his debut season, is being temporarily released from his driving contract at the end of this season, and will appear in Benetton colours until 2003.

Montoya's first ever outing in a Formula One car was on 1 December 1997 as WilliamsF1 test driver. He drove the FW19 at
the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and had accumulated over 8000km of test mileage prior to his departure for North America at the end of 1998.

The 25-year old Colombian will reacquaint himself with Formula One when official testing duties commence from 1 December onwards.