Montoya Hoping for Dry Final Qualifying

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya is hoping for a dry final qualifying session after a rain-hit first day of the United States Grand Prix.

Montoya, hoping to become the first man to win the Indy 500 and US Grand Prix at the same track, needs to win on Sunday to take the Championship initiative into a final showdown in Suzuka.

The swaggering Williams driver, three points behind Ferrari's Michael Schumacher with one race remaining after Indianapolis, was fifth fastest on a damp track with the Ferrari driver eighth and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen ninth fastest.

"It was a bit of a gamble to know if the set-up of the car was OK for qualifying, since this morning I didn't get much running in the dry," explained Montoya. "I lost a bit of time in a couple of corners because I braked too early.

"However, I hope it will be dry tomorrow and on Sunday notwithstanding the fact that Michelin has brought here some very competitive wet tyres. I am very pleased with my car, I think we've got a very good package for this weekend, I wasn't the quickest today but I am in front of my main rivals and this is the most important thing."

Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher, returning after missing the Italian Grand Prix for medical reasons following a big testing crash, posted the fourth quickest time.

"I am reasonably happy with what we have achieved today and I feel reasonably well too," he said. "My lap wasn't very good, I braked too late into turn one due to some understeer. It's a shame we couldn't find the optimum balance this morning, but we had very little running in dry conditions.

"However, it's still very encouraging for tomorrow. I believe we have the strongest package, no doubt about it and it's going to be a very tough race for Ferrari if they want to win."