FORMULA ONE/San Marino Grand Prix: Juan Pablo Montoya has insisted he will employ any tactics necessary in his pursuit of Formula One championship leader Michael Schumacher.
From Justin Hynes in San Marino
The Colombian, who was speaking on his arrival at Autodromo Enzoe Dino Ferrari in Imola to begin preparations for Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix, admitted he was still incensed by the incident in the Brazilian GP a fortnight ago in which he collided with Schumacher soon after the start - a shunt that ruined the Williams driver's race.
After the race Montoya railed against the world champion, saying Schumacher had breached the FIA racing rules by moving not once but twice as the Colombian tried to overtake him on long, Interlagos' back straight.
Yesterday he again insisted Schumacher was in the wrong. And that if Schumacher was willing to play the game in such a way, he would respond in kind.
"From my point of view it was not fair," he said of Schumacher's conduct in Brazil. "If you look at the first three corners I gave him room and that's it. I moved out of his draft and he moved (to defend) after me.
"He shouldn't make more than one move according to my understanding of the rules. You can talk as much as you want and speculate as much as you want, but it isn't going to change anything."
The Colombian added that despite start incidents with Schumacher in the past two races, he would not change his driving style.
The Colombian firebrand, who with 14 points lies third in the drivers' championship, two behind team-mate Ralf Schumacher and 10 points behind Michael, was further insulted at Schumacher not receiving any sanction from the Brazilian stewards, even though in the previous race in Malaysia Montoya had been handed a drive-through penalty for a first corner accident with Schumacher which was deemed to be his fault.
"He had made his one (defensive) move down the straight so I thought I could go down the inside. I guess I made my move before him and he came in front of me and touched my nose. The stewards say it was a racing incident, so it's good to know you can do that as well.
"I don't really consider it justice, but it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and do it too. I'm pretty happy with the way I've been racing. I believe that you've got to race fair and if somebody's racing cleanly you should race the same way. It won't really change how I'm going to race this weekend."
Schumacher, though, would not be drawn into the argument yesterday, and despite being asked several times about the Brazilian incident, kept his comments neutral.
"I see where this is heading and I'm not getting involved in this story."
While the battle for honours this weekend will clearly shape up into a contest between Montoya and the Schumacher brothers, the return to European racing after three draining and technically frustrating fly-aways has given the chasing teams a much-needed chance to test new parts and raise their games. Jordan last week spent three days in Valencia shaking down an uprated version of Honda's RA002E engine for use at this weekend's grand prix.
In heavy rain on day one of the test, the Irish squad's young Japanese driver Takuma Sato set the second fastest time of the day. With wet weather forecast throughout the weekend, his performance will be of some encouragement to Eddie Jordan's troubled outfit.
Yesterday, team leader Giancarlo Fisichella admitted that the first three races of the season had been a grave disappointment but that the new powerplant development was a step in the right direction.
"It hasn't been a great start to the season, I admit," said the Italian, who has finished only once this year, in Malaysia, where he finished last and three laps down after having to pit for a new rear wing following a collision with his team-mate.
"It has been difficult because when I drove the EJ11 during the winter I felt very comfortable with the car. And even when I first drove the EJ12 I thought it was good. But we are low on power and that is difficult.
"We have a small step this weekend, which is encouraging, and a bigger one is coming in mid-season.
"Honda are working very hard and it will come."
Team insiders, though, admit that the new engine development is still seriously down on power in comparison to the front-running teams, with one team member stating that the new version of RA002E is some seven horsepower down on even the "Suzuka special" RA001E engine Honda brought to last year's season closing event in Japan.
With last year's Suzuka engine rated at 805bhp, that puts this new Honda unit at an estimated 798bhp. With Williams new BMW powerplant, believed to be the grid's most powerful, nudging close to 895bhp, Jordan are still well off the front-runners' pace.
Honda's ethos with the RA002E has been to achieve reliability before building in performance, and as such the increase in power available to Sato and Fisichella this weekend is small.
A further and more significant step is expected for either the Canadian or the European grands prix in June.
But this weekend, at least, Jordan will be hoping that the inclement weather that greeted the teams' arrival on Thursday will continue.
The major question for the weekend though is the battle between Montoya and Schumacher.
Montoya and his Michelin tyres decidedly had the upper hand over Bridgestone-shod Schumacher in Brazil, where the Colombian took his fourth career pole.
But in the colder climes and wet weather of Imola the playing field between the tyre manufacturers should be levelled once more.
