Montoya Confident of Competitive Weekend

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya is confident his Williams team will be competitive at this weekend's European Grand Prix following today's first qualifying session.

"I am reasonably satisfied with my qualifying lap today, despite losing a bit of time in the first corner," said Montoya, who posted the third quickest time. "I had suffered from some understeer during this morning's free practice too, but apart from that it was quite good and I believe we should be pretty strong for the weekend as we've got a great car.

"We are aiming to be ahead of Ferrari and McLaren and I am confident we've got the equipment to do so."

Montoya, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season, finished only behind McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Championship leader Michael Schumacher. The Colombian outpaced his Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher, who wound up fourth fastest in the second BMW-powered car.

"My flying lap was more or less all right and the car had quite a good balance," said Ralf. "I didn't really get the last chicane right, which cost me some fractions. However I believe we are facing a demanding weekend here as McLaren seem to be very strong on this track.

"We still have a lot of work to do in order to improve the car's set-up for tomorrow and the race. With regards to the changes to the NGK corner, I must say I like it now more than it was before."