Montoya Happy to be Back in Front

Juan Pablo Montoya on Saturday praised his Williams-BMW team for making impressive steps to significantly improve his car in recent races after he finished second in qualifying for Sunday's German Grand Prix.

Colombian Montoya came close to bettering the pole time of World Champion Michael Schumacher but missed out on the very last sector of the final lap in a tight qualifying session at Hockenheim in Saturday afternoon.

"It is nice to be back in front," Montoya said. "I think Williams and BMW have done a great job over the last couple of races and since Magny-Cours there are a couple of new things. It is good to see the team back in good shape."

Montoya admitted the team still "need to go a bit faster" but insisted they are "in the ballpark" on strategy and could be in for a strong performance in Sunday's race.

"The car has not been predictable to drive," said Montoya. "It is good. The biggest problem has been understeer but I think for the race it is good. It is a shame we couldn't have gone any faster.

"I made a little mistake, I went onto the grass at the corner before the stadium so I lost a bit of speed but I think we have a very good race car, but we have to wait and see how it comes out tomorrow."

Montoya, who won the German Grand Prix last year, had not started from the front row of the grid since the Spanish Grand Prix in May and his best result of the season remains the second place he scored in Malaysia in March.