Montoya delight at surprise pole

"I really do not know where this great result came from," he said. "I was not expecting to get on the front row at all. We made quite a few changes to the car throughout qualifying and obviously it paid off."

Despite his impressive qualifying time, Montoya is determined to convert his fourth consecutive pole position into a tangible result come race day.

"My main concern is to finish and collect some points, which I have failed to do for the last four races," he said. "We will now work on the strategy to make the best choice for the race."

BMW motorsport director Gerhard Berger paid tribute to the Colombian's effort.

"This was a very impressive performance by Juan," he said. "His last lap was simply unbelievable - you could call it the Montoya factor. Now that we have achieved the fourth pole position in a row, I really hope we make it onto the podium tomorrow."

Montoya's Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher will start fourth.

"It's not to bad to start a race from fourth position," he said. "But it will be hard to challenge Ferrari in the race."