Montoya Shines in Dark Weekend

The darkest weekend was the brightest for Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya as he lived up to his billing as Formula One's new hotshot. The usual podium celebrations were absent at the Italian Grand Prix, with the champagne left untouched after the week's terrible attacks on America.

"Everyone is emotionally very down," Michael Schumacher had said before the race. "It's a weekend when a lot of things are not right and you should question whether we should race here."

But the sight of Montoya's gloved fist punching the air in undisguised jubilation as he took the chequered flag left no doubt about how he felt and went some way to lifting the atmosphere of gloom. Then, as the unfamiliar strains of Colombia's national anthem hailed the winner for the first time in Formula One history, the Williams driver climbed to the podium's top step.

"It's a great day for me," he said later. "My father is here, it's his birthday today so it's pretty good," said the Colombian who also celebrates his own birthday - his 26th - next Thursday. "And exactly a year ago was my last win in CART so it's pretty good."

It has taken Montoya just 15 races to take his initial victory and he did it on Ferrari's home territory, on the fastest circuit in Formula One and one that he had never before raced on. Montoya did not finish his first race until April, when he also made his first pit stop, but his progress in the second half of the season has been quite remarkable.

A Phenomenon

In the five races he has finished, he has won once and been second twice after leading on several other occasions. It is no wonder that team boss Frank Williams describes him as a phenomenon, a 100 percent racing driver who first caught his eye by speeding past several cars on the grass in a Formula 3000 race.

The Colombian has been on pole for three of the last four races and could have won those races had he not been hit by misfortune.

"Considering it's my first year I wasn't really expecting to win when I came in," he said. "I had a couple of opportunities where I could have won it and I just said 'when the time is meant to come it will come.'

"It's been a good season. It's funny that where I most struggled was in qualifying. Now I've got three poles so I think I improved there a bit."

Montoya is not someone lacking in confidence, a former CART champion who conquered America and has been tipped by many as Formula One's next great. And on Sunday he was equally direct, enjoying his moment and leaving it to others to talk about more disturbing events elsewhere.

In only his third Grand Prix, in Brazil in April, he imperiously passed Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in a move that won him plenty of new fans. His father Pablo, now 57, has been present at many races this season but found himself besieged by reporters for the first time.

His pride was evident as he recalled how, even as a five-year-old in go-karts, his son's abilities had stood out and how he had not pushed him to become a racer.

"He started really young when he was five and the other drivers were about eight," he said. "Pressure does not exist for him. He doesn't have that in his computer, you know. We have it, but he doesn't. That's why he's like he is. When he finds something tough he loves and enjoys it."