Montoya Hindered by Gearbox Problem

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya blamed a gearbox problem for dropping down the order during today's Italian Grand Prix.

Montoya had qualified in second position and was in the fight for victory during the early part of the race. After his second pitstop, however, the Williams driver began to experience problems with his car and went on to finish in a distant fifth position.

"My car was pretty good in both the first and the second stints when we were close to the cars in front and quite competitive," said Montoya. "However, in the last stint the car became very difficult to drive. After the pitstop I dropped from third to sixth position and I could not keep up with the cars in front anymore because of a gearbox problem.

"Today we collected some more points, which is good, but you would expect a better finish when starting from the first row."

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia wound up seventh after having to charge back from the back of the field. Pizzonia was hit from behind by Toyota's Olivier Panis when coming into the second chicane on the opening lap, and although there was no damage to his car he lost several positions.

"My race was basically compromised on the very first lap, when I got hit from behind and spun off," Pizzonia said. "I was very lucky to get out of the gravel and that my car wasn't damaged but still I dropped to 19th position. After that, I basically spent my race climbing up the field and I eventually finished in seventh position behind Coulthard.

"We were very close and I hoped that I could overtake him but he had more speed than me on the straight and I just couldn't pass him.

"I had a good opportunity with a couple of laps to go when David made a mistake in the last corner and I got very close to him coming out of the Parabolica, but we both locked our wheels and hit each other going in to the first chicane, luckily with no consequence for either of us."