Montoya branded a madman

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA was branded a madman after his latest track fracas with Michael Schumacher in Germany yesterday.

The Colombian outraged Schumacher’s Ferrari boss after banging past the five-time world champion to snatch second place at the European Grand Prix at the Nurburging.

“It was mad of Montoya,” said Ferrari’s technical director Ross Brawn. “He could have taken both of them off the circuit. It was a very crude overtaking move and he has done it several times before,” he said.

Schumacher was fifth as his younger brother Ralf led home team-mate Montoya for only the second Williams-BMW one-two in history.

But the 34-year-old still extended his lead in the drivers’ championship to seven points after McLaren-Mercedes rival Kimi Raikkonen’s hopes went up in smoke when leading the 60-lap race.

Montoya and Schumacher have a history of track clashes having been involved in first lap shunts in successive races in Malaysia and Brazil last year and in Austria in 2001.

The 27-year-old is one of the few who refuses to be intimidated by the greatest driver in history and proved it again in the German’s own backyard Montoya feinted down the inside then charged down the outside of the Ferrari as they approached Dunlop Curve for the 43rd time.

Schumacher’s car bounced off the Williams as Montoya turned for the right-handed corner and was sent sliding to the edge of the circuit.

“I gave Michael plenty of room but I wasn’t going to give him all the track,” said Montoya “We touched, he spun, I continued and that’s it. It was a racing incident - even if I must say that overtaking Michael at his home grand prix was much fun.”

Schumacher was content his title advantage was increased as he insisted it was a racing incident which the stewards agreed with after interviewing both drivers.

“The collision with Juan Pablo was a straightforward racing incident,” said Schumacher.

“Maybe I could have wished for a little bit more space, but I have no problem with Juan Pablo No-one was to blame".

Schumacher managed to keep the engine running after the collision then had a bit of luck as he was allowed a push from marshals because he was in a dangerous position.

The Swiss-based racer recovered one place when McLaren’s David Coulthard was sent bouncing into the gravel after evading Renault’s Fernando Alonso who later fended off a fierce challenge from Schumacher.

But it would have been a lot different had Raikkonen’s Mercedes engine not embarrassingly blown up after 26 laps.

The Finn, who had started on pole for the first time in his career, had dominated the race until then and looked set for a victory that could have sent him back to the championship summit.

Mercedes’ embarrassment was compounded as German rivals BMW celebrated a dream result with Williams just days after agreeing an extension of the partnership with the Grove-based outfit until 2009.

Rubens Barrichello was third for Ferrari while Mark Webber took sixth spot for Jaguar, Jenson Button collected two points for BAR-Honda with Nick Heidfeld eighth for Sauber.