Jordan look to sow on Button

Team chief Frank Williams has asked 24-year-old Montoya’s boss Chip Ganassi if his former test driver can be released from his three-year contract a year early.

Button, who is on a long-term rolling contract with Williams, was being linked with a loan deal at Jaguar Racing as replacement for fellow Englishman Johnny Herbert.

But sources close to Jordan’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen indicate that the German is set to switch to Jaguar to partner Eddie Irvine in 2001.

Ironically, Frentzen and Irvine were team-mates in their F3000 days – with Jordan.

That would leave Jordan looking for a replacement — he may need two if young Italian driver Jarno Trulli moves to Benetton — and Button would fit the bill.

The 20-year-old would surely benefit from a spell with the extrovert Dubliner who has built his team into a highly-respected Grand Prix outfit. Button’s other options will be limited anyway.

Jordan’s roll-call of former drivers is a who’s who of Formula One including the Schumacher brothers Michael and Ralf, Herbert, Jean Alesi, Giancarlo Fisichella and Rubens Barrichello.

Button, who has scored three points in his first seven races, could see his future whereabouts decided just days after his next Grand Prix in Canada on this Sunday.

Williams believes he could have a decision from Ganassi whether he will be prepared to release Montoya by the end of the month.

“We have options on Juan Pablo, but the person who controls his future for the next two years is Chip,” said Williams.

“He has him until the end of 2001. Chip knows of our interest and maybe by the end of June we will have had a definite decision.

“Only then can we think about making our own decision. But it is going to be a hard one.”

Button has impressed the Williams BMW team in his short career so far, but it is a question of whether they feel that Montoya, the reigning CART Car champion, is an even better prospect.

The team have ruled out a special test between the drivers as they did before the start of this season when Button beat Brazil’s Bruno Junqueira in a shoot-out for the seat.

“Jenson has delighted us all,” added Williams. “From the little we know, Juan Pablo is also an extremely talented driver.

Ralf doubtful

LONDON: Williams BMW driver Ralf Schumacher has said he was doubtful for the June 18 Canadian Grand Prix after suffering a leg injury on Sunday in a crash in the last race in Monaco.

Schumacher, the younger brother of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, was resting at home in Monaco after a check-up at a Monte Carlo hospital.

Schumacher sustained a three-inch gash in his left calf after crashing into a barrier in Monte Carlo.

“We wanted to make sure that no debris or carbon fiber or metal were still in the wound,” Schumacher said.