I get the feeling Montoya might be something special

Geoff Willis Williams designer

Montoya is not intimidated by F1's existing stars

Schumacher was elbowed aside in a manner he is used to dispensing, and Montoya's message was clear - take notice, boys, I'm here and I mean business.

The fact that he did this with a much heavier fuel load than the Ferrari driver - Montoya was stopping once, Schumacher twice - makes it all the more special.

It was perhaps no surprise that Montoya then went on to lead the race with such aplomb - this is after all a man who won the US-based Champ Car series in his debut season.

F1, though, is another matter altogether. Many drivers arrive at the sport's highest echelon with rave notices only to be swamped by the uniquely-pressured environment with which Grand Prix racing smothers its competitors.

Montoya, though, does not look likely to go the same way.

For the revitalised Williams-BMW team, which drafted in Montoya to replace Jenson Button this year, all this is no surprise.

'Fearsome package'

"He gives a feeling of a man who knows where he's going," says Williams' chief aerodynamicist, Geoff Willis.

"He's not intimidated, he's clearly intelligent, and he gives good [technical] feedback. It's the same feeling I had when I met Ralf [Schumacher, Williams' other driver] for the first time.

"All these drivers have huge self-confidence, but I just get the feeling Montoya might be something special.

"It's the way they turn up in the garage: 'I'm the guy. I'm in charge. I can take it.'

Williams has had his eye on Montoya for years

"It's a fearsome package, and I remember saying to [team owner] Frank [Williams] some time ago: 'I don't know how you pick them, but I think you've got it right this time.'"

Such is Montoya's confidence in what he will achieve, in fact, that he could afford to be phlegmatic about his crass removal from what seemed an almost certain victory by backmarker Jos Verstappen.

"I am disappointed, of course," Montoya said, "as it was going to be one of the best days of my life and it turned unluckily into a bad one.

"But the car was really fast and had been performing very well throughout the weekend. Williams, BMW and Michelin did a fantastic job. Better things will come."

You can be sure of that.