Montoya Disappointed to Lose Old Hockenheim

Juan Pablo Montoya said he is disappointed the old Hockenheim track was changed into a shorter, more public-friendly circuit for this year's race, and likened it to the small national circuit at Silverstone in England.

The circuit has been cut dramatically from 6.825km to 4.574km with the removal of the long high-speed straights through the woods that typified the classic original track, presenting a very different challenge for the teams.

"It's a shame we lost the old track, a big, big shame," said Montoya, who finished seventh in Friday's practice. "I flew over it and it's like when you fly over Silverstone, you see the Grand Prix circuit and then suddenly you see the national circuit. It's like that.

"In public perspective it is probably better because people can see more, but it was a classic circuit. It was quite interesting, even if it was straight-chicane...to get the car right to go over the kerbs was difficult.

"With the stadium section on low downforce it was like being on skids on snow. It was good fun. Now everybody is full downforce and it is like any other corner anywhere."

Montoya prepared for the challenge of the new circuit by driving around it on the Playstation computer game, but he does not believe that the game designers have got it quite right.

"I played it, but the corners on the game are not quite the same as those here, especially the one after the hairpin," he said. "That right-hander is really tight in the game."

The Colombian driver still believes that the circuits he raced on in during his time in CART racing in the United States were much better than the 17 tracks the Grand Prix circus visits during a season. But he backed the new developments in countries like China, Shanghai and Bahrain, where new tracks are being created in a bid to get onto the calendar by 2004.

"If you look at the circuits they want to do in all those places, I think they are going to be really good," said Montoya.