Montoya calls for consistency

Inevitably perhaps, with Montoya again expected to have superior first lap tyre performance and Schumacher expected to be characteristically uncompromising, the first corner and the rest of the Spanish GP's opening lap will be eyed with interest.

Montoya is not making a big issue about his Tosa coming-together with Schumacher at Imola, but is more concerned about the interpretation of the 'one-move' rule and consistency in judging who is to blame for on-track incidents.

On the one-move rule, Montoya claimed: "If some of these guys raced on an oval, they could kill somebody. Seriously. You make your one move and you stay there. I'm not claiming to be an angel. I went to America from Europe and I got about 50 bollockings in the first two races, and I didn't even notice what I had done...

"But, you have to respect the other drivers if you want the racing to get better. If it's just a case of pushing someone onto the grass, how are you going to have overtaking?

"I'm not slagging the FIA but we just want equality," he said. "Forget about me and Michael, but look at the incidents between Ralf and Alonso at Imola and with me and Rubens at Indy last year. At Imola, Ralf was to blame for not giving Alonso room, but at Indy it was me in Alonso's position, and I was to blame. So how does it work?

"For the FIA to be consistent, it's hard, because you've got different stewards every weekend. That's why the interpretations are different. Inevitably people like one driver better than another. So do fans and so do media. You just have to look at reports. You do something and one guy has you down as a wally and another one has you down as a hero. There's nothing wrong with that, it's life, but it's hard when you are talking about consistency of rules."

Getting back onto the subject of Schumacher, Montoya added: "Sometimes it seems like everything he does is perfect; the perfect qualifying lap, the perfect race, the perfect everything and he couldn't possibly be wrong. A bit like the class favourite, the lad who gets away with everything and all the teachers thinks he's a saint. Whereas with others, it's one sneeze and you're out of the classroom...."