Monday March 6th, 2000

With the opening Grand Prix of the season fast approaching, BMW Motorsport Director Gerhard Berger expressed his views on the dawning of a new era for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team.

"After an absence of 12 years, we are very excited and proud to accept the challenge of once again making a global commitment to Formula One," said Berger today.

But Berger remains under no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead of the team in its debut season.

"We will, however, need time to learn and we must not push our expectations too far in what is the first of a five-year partnership with WilliamsF1. If we qualify strongly in the midfield, we will have reached our first target," added Berger.

With both partners in the BMW-Williams team boasting a proud and successful history in motorsport, Berger believes that the partnership, given time, has what it takes to succeed at the very highest level.

"The partnership proved last year with the Le Mans victory that it knows what is required at the highest level of motor racing," he said.