F1 isn't boring - Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya is adamant the Formula One ’show’ is far from boring - despite the dominance of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari are firmly on course for their sixth consecutive constructors’ title as they currently hold a 79-point advantage over nearest rivals Renault, exactly double that of the French marque.

As for Schumacher, the 35-year-old has won nine of the 10 races this season and bar the kind of leg-breaking accident he suffered in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1999, he will comfortably win his seventh world championship and fifth with Ferrari.

But in the face of such one-horse-race statistics, and regardless that Montoya is 65 points adrift of Schumacher and BMW-Williams have collected a meagre 37 points, the Colombian feels the motor-racing public are not being sold short on entertainment.

“I think the show is still pretty good,” insisted Montoya.

“People can easily complain about the sport. There will always be somebody looking for a bad side trying to do some damage.

"You will never see a level playing field. Somebody will always do a better job than somebody else – plain and simple.

“There’s no magic. That’s the way it is. There will always be a stronger team with a stronger car and they are going to win.

“Last year my car, at the end of the year, was pretty strong and we could challenge Ferrari. Maybe racing was better than this year, although racing this year is very good.

“For the media it’s bad because the same is guy winning, but from P2 to P8 it is better than ever. People are missing that. Look at how close the Michelin runners are. That’s not being appreciated.

“But racing is there and overtaking is there, like Rubens [Barrichello] in the last race when he passed Jarno Trulli on the final lap. That’s good racing.

“What do you want to see? You want to see overtaking? There’s been overtaking. You want to see good, close racing? There’s been close racing. But one car is quicker than the rest of the package. They are a lot quicker than the rest. But we can’t do anything about that, even though every team is doing the best they can.”

Given Ferrari’s ‘red-wash’ of Formula One in recent seasons, there appears no end in sight to their superiority, however Montoya believes – as the past has shown – a wind of change will blow through the sport.

“Sooner or later I’m sure they will have a problem, but at the moment the car is so fast and so reliable,” added Montoya.

“In the last race they had to change the strategy to have a better chance of winning, but when you have a car that can give you that pace, then you can get away with changing the strategy.

“I think the Michelin runners are close to one another. In some places we [Williams] can be stronger than the rest, and in other places quicker than the rest. We are always there or thereabouts.

“But the team to beat at the moment is Ferrari. We want to win races and we are not that close to them yet.

“So I think Ferrari will win both championships [this year], winning the constructors’ before the drivers’. They are double the number of points ahead of Renault.

“But there has always been somebody dominate. Look at the early ’90s when Williams won everything.

“Nigel Mansell won the first five races in a row in ’91, and nine that year, and then look at the McLarens when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were there, and there was a fight going on.”

Montoya then concluded with a sideswipe at what he believes is a team-orders situation within the Ferrari camp, with Barrichello playing second fiddle to Schumacher.

“This time there is no fight because there is a clear number one and two, but that’s Ferrari’s problem,” stated Montoya.