Montoya Cautious Despite Quick Start

Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya remained cautious despite a strong performance in today's practice for the United States Grand Prix.

Colombian Montoya, a winner of the Indianapolis 500 at the famous oval circuit that forms part of the Grand Prix layout, was third quickest in the second session for Williams ahead of six times champion Michael Schumacher.

"I am reasonably satisfied with the performance of my car today, even if we have still quite a lot of work ahead of us, before we can say we are ready for tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race," said Montoya.

"It's too early to say where we really stand in relation to the competition. I evaluated the type of tyres that Michelin brought here and they seem to be both good, but before making our choice we need to have a careful look at the data."

German Ralf Schumacher, like Montoya disqualified from last Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix due to the use of an illegal brake duct, posted the sixth fastest time to complete a good day for Williams.

"All in all I can be very happy with today's performance even if driving was fairly difficult due to the fact the track is still quite slippery," said Ralf. "I finished my tyre evaluation and collected some useful data.

"There is still some work to do, but I am pretty confident about the weekend ahead."