Montoya fired up for Interlagos

Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya is out for revenge at Interlagos this weekend, the track where he was cruelly denied victory last year. The Colombian believes that the presence of thousands of his countrymen at the circuit - it's the closest he comes to a home GP - will help him go one better than the two second places he's taken in the opening rounds of this year's championship

Last season Montoya made his mark in F1 with a stunning drive in Brazil. He took the lead with an audacious pass on Michael Schumacher into the first corner and went on to dominate the first half of the race before he was taken out by the lapped Jos Verstappen. This year a win in the race would put him at the head of the drivers' standings for the first time in his career.

"There's a very Latin atmosphere there, which I obviously enjoy very much," he said. "It's good fun. Last year I was very close to scoring my first points in Formula 1, but Verstappen put an early end to my chances. I hope this year I can make up for the lost opportunity, especially because last season we were stronger at Interlagos than in Malaysia."

Team-mate Ralf Schumacher is equally as determined to follow up his success at Malaysia with his second straight win. Like Montoya he knows victory will put him on top of the drivers' championship and he's convinced that the Williams FW24 has what it takes to stave off the threat of his brother and the new Ferrari F2002.

"I strongly believe that in Brazil we can beat Ferrari again," he said. " We like the Interlagos track, even if it isn't easy to find a compromise between not being slow on the straights but quick enough through the infield. After testing in Barcelona, where we have tried out a couple of small aerodynamic changes, I am pretty confident about racing in Brazil."

Ralf has never been on the podium in Brazil. His best result was fourth place in 1999. The only other points he's collected at Interlagos came courtesy of fifth a year later.