Ralf bemoans problems

"If I look at all the problems I had today I should be happy to have finished third," said Schumacher. "A couple of things went wrong today. First Trulli held me up and then I was slowed down by Villeneuve when I was approaching the pits and finally I had an additional stop to top up the pressurised air for the pneumatic valve drive of the engine."

Montoya, meanwhile, endured one of his less competitive runs of the last few races, but emerged with his first podium finish since Monaco.

"I didn't expect to come second," said a grateful Montoya. "It happened thanks to the misfortune of Ralf, but this is racing and these things happen.

The highlight of the Colombian's race was a tussle with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, from which the former emerged victorious.

"The fight with Raikkonen was very entertaining," enthused Montoya. "After he passed me at the start I had a few chances to overtake him, but it was too risky and I preferred waiting. Then the team told me I could make it and pumped my revs up, which gave me some additional power. Raikkonen made a mistake and I got past."

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Thiessen was happy with second and third place. "We have been quite strong this weekend and achieve a very good race results," he said. "Apart from seeing both our drivers on the podium I am happy that after a long time we were able to keep Ferrari's pace again."