Give Montoya time, says Berger

Gerhard Berger has the leapt to the defence of Formula 1 rookie Juan Pablo Montoya after the Colombian failed get to grips with his Williams-BMW on the first day's practice at the Australian Grand Prix

Montoya, who is competing for the first time at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit, was only 15th fastest at the end of Friday's two one-hour practice session, nine places and 1.5secs away from team mate Ralf Schumacher. But BMW motorsport boss Berger says Montoya just needs to be given time to gain experience of the Australian circuit as well as his new surroundings.

"Juan Pablo was facing the task to set up the car for the first time under the pressure of a Grand Prix weekend on a circuit he has never raced on before," said Berger. "It is not easy for him, but he makes every effort."

Montoya admitted he struggled on the opening day of the 2001 season, but the former CART champion put that down to his Williams-BMW suffering from severe understeer.

"I've been struggling a bit with the set up of the car today, but I've done some learning on a track that was completely new to me," said Montoya. "The main problem for us was a big understeer and when you have such a problem you lose a lot of time."

For the full practice session 2 results click here.