HOCKENHEIM, Germany, 4 August 2003 — Juan Pablo Montoya stayed cool as all around him suffered in fierce heat yesterday when he moved into contention for the drivers’ world championship by winning a crash-marred German Grand Prix.
The Colombian, lying third going into the race, jumped up to second and within six points of defending champion German Michael Schumacher with his second victory in six successful races and the third win of his career.
But afterward he played down his chances of seizing the drivers’ title and ending three years of domination by Schumacher and Ferrari. “No, I am not talking about it or thinking about it. Anything can happen. There are four races to go and we’ll just see what happens,” Montoya said.
As the track temperature touched 50 degrees Celsius, Montoya, in a Williams, pulled clear from the 11th pole position of his career. After three rapid pit-stops he came home 67 seconds clear of second-placed Briton David Coulthard in a McLaren.
Schumacher, who started sixth for Ferrari, fought his way up to second place but suffered a puncture to his left rear tire with three laps remaining and, after an emergency pit stop, finished seventh.
Italian Jarno Trulli and Spaniard Fernando Alonso finished third and fourth in the two Renaults, but Trulli, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, almost collapsed afterward and missed the normally mandatory news conference. He lay on the ground before climbing the podium, being sprayed with water.
Frenchman Olivier Panis was fifth for Toyota ahead of his teammate Brazilian Cristiano Da Matta. Schumacher was seventh and Briton Jenson Button eighth for BAR-Honda. It was a great day for Montoya who made the most of the elimination of Williams teammate German Ralf Schumacher, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren in a multiple collision at the first corner.
“That made the race much easier for me than it would have been otherwise,” Montoya said.
Raikkonen’s car lost three wheels in the high-speed crash and the driver was taken to the circuit medical center for checks before being released with a bruised leg.
The Finn had been second in the title race before yesterday.
The accident triggered a secondary crash which wiped out three other cars.
With four races remaining, Schumacher leads with 71 points with Montoya second on 65, the Latin American having accumulated two wins, three seconds and one third on his hot streak since he won the Monaco Grand Prix on June 1.
“I think it went really well today,” said Montoya. “The whole weekend went really well for me and today the car was just fantastic — all day long.
“I got a great start and I just went from there. I don’t know what happened to Ralf at the start but I just pushed and pushed and they all seemed to just drop away.
“I managed to get a lot out of the car and it went very well. I had a bit of an issue on lap 15 and lost a bit of top speed but that was all. The conditions? It was hot but they were honestly not too bad. Physically I felt pretty good. But I am sure it was a pretty different race for everyone behind me.”
Montoya had three pit stops while most of his rivals opted for two and the Colombian’s strategy paid off handsomely.
“I was just trying not to make any mistakes all day and to keep on putting in consistent laps,” he said.
Coulthard, who started 10th, grabbed his first podium finish since winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to make up for his McLaren team’s loss of title-challenger Raikkonen in the first-corner pile-up.
He said: “I saw it on the big screen when the safety car came out. It looked to me like Kimi was on the outside, cars were jockeying around and they probably didn’t see each other and this led to the incident.
“I am delighted to be back on the podium. It’s been a difficult season for me, especially in qualifying. But my race pace has been good and that is the key for future success.”
