Williams Praises Montoya's Attitude

Formula One team boss Sir Frank Williams praised his Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya on Saturday for the way he has coped with the disappointments he has experienced in the last two races.

Montoya will start from pole position for the third time in as many races at the Nurburgring on Sunday, but he has suffered engine failures in the last two Grands Prix, Canada and Monaco, when racing towards podium positions.

His Latin American temperament has been seen to boil over a few times in the past, and in Montreal two weekends ago he walked away during the race without speaking to the press after a simple "cheerio" to his boss.

Williams admitted he thought Montoya's behaviour in Canada "most unusual" but said that in general the 26-year-old driver's attitude has improved since his debut with the team last season.

"He has been very good," said Williams. "He handles (the disappointments) very well. It is a sign of his fundamental nature. He enjoys life but he also mixes that now with some good maturity, which is more and more present.

"His mistakes are far fewer and he can frequently find himself in trouble with his car in a qualifying session and work his way out of it with his engineer and his data."

Montoya is currently in level second place with teammate Ralf Schumacher in the Championship on 27 points, having scored three second places, one third, one fourth and one fifth.

Until the Monaco Grand Prix only he and Michael Schumacher had a 100 percent finishing record in the races this season and he remains second in reliability having completed 485 of the 531 laps so far this year.