Williams expects to maintain strong form

Williams' chief operations engineer Sam Michael had not expected Ralf Schumacher, winner of the European and French GPs, and Montoya to do well at the Northamptonshire circuit, so the team's pace was a welcome boost.

"This result was really satisfying," said Michael. "We went to Silverstone thinking it would be our weakest track for the rest of the year but we ended up being very quick.

"The car's pace was good. It was the best we've seen with this car at Silverstone. With the tracks coming up we feel encouraged. Hockenheim is dominated by slow and medium speed corners which will dictate the set-up options we select over the weekend. Traction will be an important factor, as well as tyre selection. The data from last year's race demonstrates that tyre degradation can be a problem at Hockenheim so making the correct choice with Michelin will be crucial.

"Strategy, however, will be the most crucial element of the weekend, so the efficiency of the pit crew will be key. After seeing how much time the crew managed to gain our drivers in the pitlane during the Safety Car period at Silverstone, we are confident of another strong showing in Germany. We've also made several improvements to the FW25 which will hopefully keep us at the front.

Montoya's second place finish in Silverstone enabled him to leap ahead of his team-mate for third in the drivers' table and the Colombian is keen to capitalise on this in Germany: " This is very good, but the gap to Michael [14 points] is still substantial and I need to score consistently in every race to be able to challenge for the title.

"We have always been fairly competitive at Hockenheim," Montoya said, "even when our car wasn't as good as it is now, so I don't see why we shouldn't be confident in achieving a good result this year.

Schumacher's run of good form came to an end at Silverstone when a guidevane came adrift writing off a points finish and seriously denting his championship chances - he is now 18 points behind his brother Michael.

"The World Championship is far from my thoughts at the moment," he said. "Hockeheim is my home GP so I am concentrating on that and, hopefully, securing another win. Last year, we ran for the first time on the revised track, which is great, so I can't wait to get back there