Williams Has Words with Feuding Teammates

Frank Williams has had words with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya to reduce the risk of his drivers running each other off the track in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

"I think Frank has had a quiet and measured word with both drivers," said technical director Patrick Head. "I hope we don't see sparks tomorrow between our two guys."

Ralf threatened on Thursday to take his Colombian teammate out of the race if he tried to pull off the same aggressive overtaking manoeuvre that angered the German in Formula One's Australian season-opener.

Head said Williams, who famously had to deal with feuding teammates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet in the 1980s, had reminded both to focus their "competitive spirit on the enemy without rather than the enemy within".

The team boss told a news conference on Friday that, while his drivers were allowed to race hard and bang wheels if necessary, pushing each other off would not be tolerated.

"Our policy has always been to have the two fastest drivers we can in the car," Head said after qualifying on Saturday.

The two drivers finished one-two in Malaysia two years ago but the chances of that happening on Sunday looked remote after Montoya put his car fourth on the grid and Ralf seventh.

'Remarkably Pally'

"When we have had a situation where one driver has been a lot quicker than the other, it's always been that they have been remarkably pally and friendly," added Head. "Whenever they have been on the same 10th of a second there have usually been some hisses and claws coming out. I don't think it's particularly unusual.

"We don't have anything in the contract that says, if you bump into your teammate, we will fine you X hundred thousand dollars or anything like that. Obviously they have things in their contracts that say they have to behave and drive to the credit of the team and themselves. But ultimately at this stage it's just a quiet word."

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, runaway winner in the Australian season-opener, was again on pole with a lap nearly a second faster than Montoya.

Head said it was always a mistake to judge a Formula One season too early but some engine manufacturers and teams had clearly made progress, as had Ferrari's tyre suppliers Bridgestone.

"If the Ferrari is truly a second a lap faster than us purely as a car, then we need to improve the aerodynamics of the car by 10 or 12 percent and possibly even more to make up that gap," he said.

"That's usually the sort of thing that takes a year to achieve. So the gap has to be made up in more than probably just the pure aerodynamics of the car."