Formula One: Head tips Montoya for title glory

Juan Pablo Montoya was hailed as a world championship candidate after he grabbed the maiden victory of his career in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Montoya, 26 on Thursday, became the first Colombian to win a Formula One race yesterday after he capitalised on a botched pit-stop for Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello.

The 1999 Champ Car champion won by just over five seconds from Barrichello, with fellow Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher third.

‘‘Now we have got two people capable of mounting a challenge for the championship,’’ said Williams’ technical director Patrick Head after seeing Montoya win at the 15th attempt.

Montoya’s celebrations were muted - no champagne was sprayed in the podium presentation - with the sport still shocked by the terrorist attacks in the United States and Alex Zanardi’s sickening accident in Germany.

Zanardi, who had an unsuccessful season for Williams in 1999 after winning back-to-back Champ Car titles, had both legs amputated after being hit by a fellow driver in the inaugural CART race near Berlin last Saturday.

‘‘I was not getting frustrated at not winning,’’ said Montoya, who had started on pole for the third time in four races. ‘‘I was not really expecting to win in my first year and I have had a few problems in other races.’’

Barrichello’s hopes of winning for the first time this season were ended at his first pit-stop when mechanics brought out the refuelling rig of team-mate Michael Schumacher, who had stopped a lap earlier, and in the confusion he lost vital seconds.

‘‘It cost me a lot of time - enough to lose the race,’’ said Barrichello, who would have leapfrogged McLaren’s David Coulthard into second place in the championship with a victory, though he is now just three points behind.

World champion Schumacher, who like Barrichello competed in a Ferrari without any logos and a black nose as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the United States, finished fourth in a race he did not want to start.

Schumacher had tried before the 53-lap contest to get his fellow drivers to agree not to overtake before they had safely negotiated the controversial first two chicanes, which caused a multiple pile-up last year that resulted in the death of a local marshal.

The 32-year-old, who spoke to several drivers on the grid before the start, was desperate not to add another serious incident at the end of a week in which the events in the United States and Zanardi’s accident left many in F1 in sombre mood.

But Canada’s 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve refused to agree insisting afterwards it was right and proper to race and several team chiefs ordered their drivers to do the same.

Britain’s Jenson Button obeyed his Benetton boss Flavio Briatore and powered up from 11th - his best starting position of the season - at the start but hit the back of Jordan’s Jarno Trulli at the first chicane.

The 21-year-old, whose future could depend on his performances in the remaining races, if they go ahead, was criticised afterwards by McLaren’s David Coulthard, whose race ended when his engine conked-out.

‘‘I don’t know what Jenson was doing going down the outside like that,’’ said Coulthard. ‘‘He has heard all the warnings in the drivers’ briefing, the other chats we had about being sensible. There is no excuse for what he did really.

‘‘His own race was ruined but he could have caused something that was dangerous. The whole world has been shocked by what has happened in the United States and we are shocked by what happened to Alex, he is one of us.

‘‘It has been a very difficult weekend for us all. It was very eerie on the grid beforehand, it was so quiet I thought we were having another minute’s silence.’’

Button, who needed a replacement front wing but saw his race ended a few laps later when his engine went, said: ‘‘I made a great start.

‘‘But at the first corner I think I had strayed too far to the inside where it was quite dirty and oily, perhaps from the Porsche race earlier in the day.

‘‘I braked at the same time as everyone else, but I couldn’t stop in time to avoid Trulli. I ran into him, lost my front wing and put him out of the race, for which I was very sorry.’’

Eddie Irvine also retired early on but Jaguar Racing team-mate Pedro de la Rosa scored two points with fifth place while Villeneuve was sixth.