Williams set to unveil new model

Williams will begin the countdown to the new Formula One season in earnest tomorrow when launching their 2004 challenger in Spain.

The FW26 will be unveiled in Valencia before Williams begin an intensive period of testing as they look to finally topple Ferrari having come so close in both championships last year.

Juan Pablo Montoya was favourite with just a couple of races left but his and the BMW-powered team’s challenge in the Manufacturers’ battle faltered when it mattered most.

The Colombian will be taking part in his fourth and final car unveiling for Williams having already agreed to join McLaren-Mercedes in 2005 at the expected expense of Britain’s David Coulthard.

Montoya, who eventually finished third, has insisted the fact he will be leaving at the end of next season will not be detrimental to his chances of ending Michael Schumacher’s dominance of F1 in 2004.

Team-mate Ralf Schumacher will also be at the launch with talks continuing over his future with the Grove-based outfit.

The German could be using Montoya’s departure as a way of boosting his reputed £12m (€17m) wage demands, though he insists the delay in agreeing a new deal is nothing to do with money.

“The real reasons are confidential,” said Schumacher. “I would not expect anything to happen in the near future.”

Schumacher finished back in fifth place in the drivers’ standings last season - 24 points adrift of Montoya – and has still to prove he can finally emerge from the shadow of his big brother.

The team recovered from a poor start – when their car was likened to a tortoise by BMW mechanics – to win four races in a fourth season with the German car giant.

If BMW can again produce one of – if not the best – engine on the grid then team chief Frank Williams could finally regain the Constructors’ crown for the first time since 1997.

That year they also won their last drivers’ title through Jacques Villeneuve.

Williams will be quickly joined by Toyota and Jaguar who have mid-January launches while Renault will unveil their latest challenger at the end of the month, followed a few days later by Jenson Button’s BAR. Ferrari are expected to produce their new car next month.

But all have been left trailing in the exhaust pipe of McLaren who, although there has been no official launch, have already taken to the track in the MP4-19. It earned rave reviews in the pre-Christmas tests.

The Woking-based team kept faith with a heavily modified version of their 2002 car last season because of testing glitches with the MP4-18 model which will never race.

The 2002 car proved reliable enough for Kimi Raikkonen to take Schumacher to the wire before missing out by two points.

If the MP4-19 is as quick as is hoped then the Finn could prove to be the six-time champion’s biggest threat again.