Montoya content with leading rivals

Although he was only fifth quickest in first qualifying for the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, Williams-BMW's world championship challenger Juan Pablo Montoya was delighted to be in front of title rivals Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen

Montoya's was the second car on track today (Friday), and although he undoubtedly lost time because of inferior track conditions compared to the later runners, he was happy enough with the result which means he will go first in the last batch of five cars on Saturday.

"I am very pleased with my car," he said. "I think we've got a very good package for this weekend, I wasn't the quickest today but I am in front of my main rivals and this is the most important thing.

"It was a bit of a gamble to know if the set-up of the car was OK for qualifying, since this morning I didn't get much running in the dry. I lost a bit of time in a couple of corners because I braked too early. However, I hope it will be dry tomorrow and on Sunday notwithstanding the fact that Michelin has brought here some very competitive wet tyres."

Team-mate Ralf Schumacher, who says he is feeling no after-effects from his pre-Italian Grand Prix testing crash, is also upbeat about the team's chances this weekend.

"I believe we have the strongest package, no doubt about it, and it's going to be a very tough race for Ferrari if they want to win," he said.