Michael: Nico and Alex exactly what we need.

Sam Michael has tipped drivers Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz to be two of Williams' star turns this year, as the British squad looks to rebuild on the back of a demoralising 2006 campaign in the top flight.

The Grove-based outfit's technical director is confident of a far more competitive season in 2007, with greatly-improved reliability the byword following as many mechanically-based retirements as points last year. He is convinced both Rosberg and Wurz will be more than capable of exploiting the potential of the new FW29.

"Nico came into Formula One last year and did a fantastic job," the Australian enthused to Crash.net. "He made a couple of rookie mistakes during the year, but overall he did a really good job and that's why he is still with the team.

"Everyone remembers what he did in Bahrain - setting the fastest lap in his first-ever grand prix - but after that basically we let him down on both reliability and performance. We know where his performances were relative to others though, and he held himself in good stead all year. He has got a smart head on his shoulders and now has a year's experience under his belt. He is fit and ready to have a good challenge this year."

Michael is also positive about Wurz's impact on the team, despite the fact the Austrian has been away from the racing scene full-time since 2000. He does not feel this will hold him back in any way, however, and is effusive in his praise of the 33-year-old's technical abilities and overall demeanour.

"Right from the first day Alex walked into the company it was pretty clear how intelligent he was," he asserted, "and he has directly contributed to turning this team around. On the development side he has had a good input on suspension geometry, car set-up, electronics, tyre development, even a couple of aerodynamic things - everything to be honest, because he has a very logical mind.

"He has a fantastic sense of humour as well which makes him a very good guy to get along with in the engineering truck and at events. He is obviously pretty happy we have given him this opportunity, but he really earned it in 2006. We couldn't be happier with the two drivers we've got. They are exactly what we need at the moment."