Head Angry at Williams Drivers 'Ridiculous' Clash

Williams technical director Patrick Head branded as ridiculous an incident between his drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya at today's United States Grand Prix.

Williams provided the main talking point of the early stages with a collision that killed off their hopes. Schumacher had slipped ahead of teammate Montoya off the starting grid and they collided as the Colombian tried to regain fourth place into the first corner on the second lap.

Ralf's rear wing was knocked off in the impact while Montoya went careering over the grass before rejoining without apparent damage. An angry Head said the team would talk to both drivers to ensure that such an incident is not repeated in the future.

"I'm not into apportioning blame between the two of them," Head was quoted as saying by the BBC. "We've had some fantastic drivers in the past but they just haven't driven into each other. It's absolutely ridiculous.

"For the amount of effort that goes into this, to have that happen is completely unacceptable. We'll talk about it afterwards and try to sort out how it doesn't happen again."

Ralf, who went on to finish two laps down in 16th position, suggested the Colombian was to blame, as he had left no room to take the corner.

"I had a good start but after that there was the unfortunate accident with Juan," said. "It is always difficult to pass anyone on the outside. There wasn't a lot of room there at all. Anyway, before giving an accurate opinion I should have a proper look at the TV images first."

Montoya, who finished in fourth position, saw things differently: "In the second lap I was passing Ralf and I braked late. I was going round the outside and suddenly he hit me. I think he braked a lot later."