Montoya back in hunt after Hockenheim win
Juan Pablo Montoya scorched to victory in the German Grand Prix today and improved his World Championship chances.
The Colombian romped home by a massive 65 seconds for Williams-BMW while all his four title rivals hit trouble in the broiling Hockenheim heat.
McLaren’s David Coulthard finished second to score his first podium since winning the opening race of the season in Australia with Jarno Trulli third for Renault.
Montoya catapulted into second place in the championship just six points behind title-holder Schumacher who could only finish seventh after suffering a punctured tyre while second with just four laps left of the 67-lap race.
Schumacher’s hopes of a record sixth drivers’ crown looked to have been boosted when three of his rivals – brother Ralf, Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello all bashed into each other in a dramatic first corner incident and failed to finish.
Raikkonen slipped to third in the championship nine points adrift with just four races left after Formula One’s summer break.
Schumacher’s younger brother is now 18 points behind while Barrichello fell 22 adrift of his team leader and both are surely out of championship contention.
Aussie ace Mark Webber was unable to add to his points tally for Jaguar Racing as he slid into the gravel on the penultimate lap while trying to overtake Jenson Button’s BAR for eighth spot.
Webber’s new team-mate Justin Wilson was one of three other drivers who suffered in the knock-on effect of the first corner shunt.
Raikkonen’s McLaren was destroyed as the 23-year-old smashed into the tyre wall after being sent sliding and skidding across the run-off area.
The Finn had made a great start from fifth in the short run down to the first corner overtaking third-placed Barrichello on the outside.
But it was a tight squeeze as he hugged the edge of the circuit and as tried to come inside the rear of his car clipped the front of Barrichello’s Ferrari before bouncing into Schumacher’s Williams which had moved across from the left.
Raikkonen’s car had three of its wheels ripped off but he hopped out of the wrecked cockpit while Barrichello and Schumacher’s machines also sustained terminal damage taking out three of the five remaining title hopefuls in one fell swoop.
Montoya, who had started on pole, had hared away while Schumacher benefited from qualifying a lowly sixth on the grid as he could stay clear of the mayhem on the other side of the track.
Colombian Montoya did not put a wheel out of place as he scorched home with track temperatures hitting 49 degrees Celsius to claim his second win of the season and only the third of his 46-race career.
The 27-year-old - who is said to be a target of McLaren as replacement for David Coulthard - triumphed by a crushing margin to give BMW a dream victory on home soil.
Schumacher looked to have picked up a priceless two extra points when he powered round the outside of Jarno Trulli’s Renault with just eight laps left to snatch second spot from the Italian.
But just a few laps later Schumacher suffered a punctured left rear tyre and could only crawl back to the Ferrari pit-area for a replacement.
The 34-year-old was overtaken by a stream of cars to eventually finish seventh in front of 130,000 of his fellow countrymen, Renault’s Fernando Alonso was fourth, Olivier Panis fifth for Toyota while Button took eighth for BAR.
It was another poor day for the Jordan cars, both which failed to finish.
