Montoya Criticises Ralf over Nurburgring Start

Juan Pablo Montoya has accused Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher of effectively wrecking his race after they banged wheels at the first corner of last weekend's European Formula One Grand Prix.

The Colombian, who started on pole for the third race in a row but later collided with McLaren's David Coulthard and retired, suggested that Ralf had acted rashly in forcing his way past at the Nurburgring.

"If I had not moved off the line, it's possible both of our races would have ended there," Montoya said in a column for Britain's Autosport magazine on Thursday.

"I went and had a word with the team after the race because if you are racing with your teammate, you have got to think a little bit about the other guy. I could have gone out wide, pushed him into the gravel and spun him out. We need to be a bit more careful in that respect.

"You could argue that he did a better job than me because he got ahead but he did hit me. The impact was small but it bent my steering arm. From then on I went backwards. The car felt horrible."

Schumacher finished the race fourth and is now second in the Championship, 46 points behind elder brother Michael's Ferrari. Montoya completed 27 laps before he collided with Coulthard, who was trying to overtake at the place where Ralf had squeezed past earlier.

Montoya, who said that his tyres had worn down dramatically, braked and spun into the McLaren. The Colombian later apologised to an unimpressed Coulthard.