Happy Montoya Not Thinking of Title Yet

Juan Pablo Montoya stayed cool as all around him suffered in fierce heat today when he moved into contention for the Drivers' Championship by winning a crash-marred German Grand Prix.

The Colombian, lying third going into the race, jumped up to second and within six points of defending champion German Michael Schumacher with his second victory in six successful races and the third win of his career.

But afterwards he played down his chances of seizing the drivers' title and ending three years of domination by Schumacher and Ferrari.

"No, I am not talking about it or thinking about it. Anything can happen. There are four races to go and we'll just see what happens," Montoya said.

It was a great day for Montoya who made the most of the elimination of Williams teammate German Ralf Schumacher, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren in a multiple collision at the first corner.

"That made the race much easier for me than it would have been otherwise," Montoya said.

Raikkonen's car lost three wheels in the high-speed crash and the driver was taken to the circuit medical centre for checks before being released with a bruised leg. The Finn had been second in the title race before Sunday.

The accident triggered a secondary crash which wiped out three other cars.

With four races remaining, Schumacher leads with 71 points with Montoya second on 65, the Latin American having accumulated two wins, three seconds and one third on his hot streak since he won the Monaco Grand Prix on June 1.

"I think it went really well today," said Montoya. "The whole weekend went really well for me and today the car was just fantastic - all day long. I got a great start and I just went from there. I don't know what happened to Ralf at the start but I just pushed and pushed and they all seemed to just drop away.

"I managed to get a lot out of the car and it went very well. I had a bit of an issue on lap 15 and lost a bit of top speed but that was all. The conditions? It was hot but they were honestly not too bad. Physically I felt pretty good. But I am sure it was a pretty different race for everyone behind me."

Montoya had three pit stops while most of his rivals opted for two and the Colombian's strategy paid off handsomely.

"I was just trying not to make any mistakes all day and to keep on putting in consistent laps," he said. "From our point of view, three stops was the best way to go, so I ended up one minute ahead of the next guy. Obviously it worked."