Schumacher Plays Tough as Montoya Closes In

Juan Pablo Montoya got a taste of Michael Schumacher's determination as he slashed the Ferrari driver's Formula One Championship lead to one point after the Hungarian Grand Prix today.

"On the first lap I was going round the outside of him in turn two and he just threw his car at me completely," said the Colombian Williams driver, third in a race in which Germany's five-times World Champion finished eighth.

"I was a bit shocked by that but if that's the way he's racing, that's the way he's racing. But that doesn't really help him at the moment. He needed to score points today and he took one point."

Williams seized the lead from Ferrari in the constructors' standings for the first time this season, but the early stages of the race suggested a less positive outcome for the BMW-powered team. With Ralf Schumacher starting second on the grid, Montoya fourth and Michael Schumacher only eighth, Williams were favourites.

But a nightmare start left both struggling behind Schumacher's Ferrari, with Ralf compounding his sluggish getaway by spinning down to 18th place.

"I was P8 (eighth) into turn one. I couldn't believe it," said Montoya.

"I let the button go, and everybody went past like we were not even accelerating. It was almost like throwing out an anchor," he said. "Passing was quite difficult so I just really waited for the pitstops, then people pitted and I had a clear track and I pushed.

"We clearly had probably the fastest car again - I did the fastest lap of the race and apart from that (the start) everything went pretty well."

Launch Control

Although Williams said they would look at their 'launch control' systems before the next Italian Grand Prix, Montoya suggested any problem was exacerbated by the state of the Hungaroring surface.

"Generally, people on the right had a slower start than people on the left," he said.

"I did mention to (race director) Charlie (Whiting) yesterday that it was very difficult because last year we had a warm-up and people starting on the right would go there and clear it up a bit.

"This year you don't know where you start until after qualifying and the next time you go through there is the start of the race. I said to Charlie that you are going to see people on the right lose a lot of places and I think something is going to have to be done about that because it is just horrendous."

With three races to go, Montoya has emerged as a title favourite but he almost paid a heavy price when he spun with 10 laps to go. He also had to race his teammate Ralf, whose title hopes could be slipping away. Michael's younger brother is now 14 points off the lead.

"He came a little bit close and I asked the team 'Are we racing?' and they said 'Yes, Ralf is about to pass,'" said Montoya of the closing stages. "I just pushed - and pulled a little bit away from him."