Williams drivers clash, again

On this occasion however it was far more destructive in terms of points. A locked brake from Montoya at the first corner of the race caused him to ram into his team-mate, eliminating the German on the spot. Montoya was forced to stop to change his nosecone which meant that he could do no better than eighth place by the end of the race.

Montoya's version of events was that he was not entirely to blame for the accident: " I had a good start, but the accident at the first corner obviously compromised my race. When I made it to the first turn Rubens Barrichello, who was in front of me, braked quite early and both Ralf and I locked the tyres.

"Then Ralf went for the outside and I stayed behind Rubens but when I was going around the corner Panis dived up the inside, hitting my front tyre. That threw me straight into Ralf. A hairpin is always going to cause problems in a racing start. "

Schumacher, whose season continues to go disastrously (he has just 12 points), could not be tempted to blame Montoya despite the recent needle between the two: "What happened is obviously a shame. Being taken out of the race at the first corner is definitely not what I was expecting. It was a very unfortunate accident with Juan who just braked a bit too late since he was trying to gain some places at the end of the straight. I am 100 percent sure Juan didn't do it on purpose therefore I am not going to blame him for this."

Williams' new technical director Sam Michael summed up the team's day perfectly: "We would have been much more competitive if both our cars had come through the first corner without incident."