Montoya Encouraged by Wet Weather Pace

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was encouraged by the performance of his BMW-powered Williams car in the wet after posting the fourth quickest time of the day in Friday's practice for the British Grand Prix.

Montoya's progress was hampered by an engine problem in the first of today's sessions at the very wet Silverstone circuit, but he then managed to recover in the afternoon to finish in fourth place behind the Ferrari drivers and Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella.

"It went pretty well, especially after the start we had this morning with an engine failure, which allowed me to get only five laps in during the first session," said Montoya. "Then we worked mainly on the wet tyres and the wet set up.

"We normally seem to struggle in the wet but today was quite encouraging. We've done a lot of work and I am pretty happy about it."

Teammate Ralf Schumacher was unable to match the Colombian's pace today, finishing down in 11th position more than three seconds off Rubens Barrichello's time. Schumacher, in second place in the Championship, struggled to cope with the changing conditions on the British track.

"We had very difficult conditions today with a wet and variable track," Schumacher said. "It was really slippery and I spun a few times, although without any consequences. Of course we still haven't chosen our tyres and have a lot of work ahead of us in this respect.

"Also from an aerodynamic point of view, we couldn't make any informed decision under such conditions."