Mighty Montoya

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA left his rivals in the shade and staked a serious claim for the world championship title when he cruised to victory in the German Grand Prix yesterday.

On a dramatic day of searing temperatures, fellow title challengers Kimi Raikkonen, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher all went out after a start line pile-up, while world champion Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari lost second place late in the race because of a puncture.

Colombian Montoya closed the gap on world championship leader Michael Schumacher to six points after leading the race from the start to claim his second victory of the season following success in Monaco.

However, despite claiming the third win of his career, Montoya refused to get carried away by his title prospects.

“I am not talking about it or thinking about it. Anything can happen,” said Montoya, who has now finished on the podium in the last six races. “There are four races to go and we’ll just see what happens. It is very important to keep scoring points. Even if you can’t win, it is important just to take points.”

Montoya had been forced to settle for second place behind team-mate Ralf Schumacher and Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello in the last two events, but both they and championship contender Kimi Raikkonen were forced out in a first lap collision.

That left the way clear for Schumacher, who started from sixth on the grid, to challenge for second but he was cruelly denied a podium finish when he suffered a puncture three laps from the end.

Scot David Coulthard was promoted to second place for McLaren, more than a minute behind Montoya, but the result signalled his first podium finish since winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Italian Jarno Trulli claimed his first podium finish this season in third with his Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso fourth.

Montoya’s three-stop strategy was the key to his victory and the Toyota pair of Frenchman Olivier Panis and Brazilian Cristiano da Matta also benefited from similar tactics to claim fifth and sixth ahead of Schumacher.

Briton Jenson Button claimed the final point with eighth place for BAR-Honda.

Montoya made a clear run at the start but team-mate Ralf Schumacher was slow to get away and squeezed Barrichello, as Raikkonen tried to move past the pair on the outside into turn one. Schumacher tapped Barrichello’s rear tyre with his front left wheel and knocked him into Raikkonen, who speared right and hit Schumacher’s sidepod before spinning and crashing heavily into the tyre barriers.

Raikkonen’s McLaren lost three of its four wheels and he was taken to the circuit medical centre, but later released with a bruised leg and a stiff neck. Barrichello also parked up his Ferrari at the side of the track and Ralf Schumacher retired in the pits at the end of the lap when his car was deemed impossible to repair.

Behind the leaders, Briton Ralph Firman became involved in a second crash when his Jordan collided with the back of German Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Sauber and both were forced to retire.

The race got underway again when the safety car pitted on lap four, with Montoya holding onto the lead ahead of Trulli, Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Australian Mark Webber, of Jaguar, and the rest of the 15-car field.