Montoya Upset after Second Disqualification in a Row

Sir Frank Williams said on Sunday that Williams-BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya was upset that the stewards delayed his disqualification from the United States Grand Prix until lap 57 of the 73-lap race.

Colombian Montoya was forced to start the race from the pitlane after sprinting to his garage and climbing in the spare car when his race car's starter failed to engage on the grid.

But after more than an hour of racing Montoya was told he had been too late leaving the grid and received a black flag which forced him to return to the Williams pits and retire.

"Juan is very upset about it," said Williams. "But I guess we got good mileage on the car for the sponsors! Juan was disqualified because the driver must be off the grid within 15 seconds of the start and we were off about 13 seconds."

Brazilian driver Enrique Bernoldi in an Arrows had been given the black flag in identical conditions in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. In Bernoldi's case, however, the black flag was shown 15 laps, or 43 minutes after the start, into the 58-lap race.

Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher's heavy crash, which left him recovering in an Indianapolis hospital, forced Williams to admit: "We had another bad weekend."

The team's trip to North America for the two back-to-back races in Canada and the United States has been a disaster and Williams said it will not end yet for Schumacher as he will remain in hospital "for several days."

Schumacher had finished second in the Canadian Grand Prix with Montoya fifth last weekend but the team were disqualified along with rivals Toyota for running illegal brake ducts.