Barrichello gave Montoya enough space

Rubens Barrichello has stopped short of blaming Juan Pablo Montoya for their clash at the US Grand Prix but believes he gave the Colombian enough space to prevent the incident. Montoya was closing on Barrichello on lap three and at turn two the Williams hit the rear of the Ferrari, resulting in Barrichello going off and Montoya losing a few places.

"It was a close battle, and turn two gets quite rapidly tighter," said Barrichello. "I didn't turn in on him and felt I gave him space, as I didn't even touch the apex of the corner, then I just felt a touch at the back and that was it for me."

Montoya was awarded a drive-through penalty, as the stewards decided he had caused an avoidable incident. "That is not for me to say, really," Barrichello remarked when asked if he though the penalty was justified.

"I know how crucial it was to the championship, but I didn't want anything bad to happen for anyone. I can only watch the incident as it went. I had nowhere else to go. That was my line."

Montoya has now lost his chance of becoming World Champion this year; he finished sixth at Indy but needed to cross the line fifth or higher to stay in the fight.

"A very disappointing race, basically decided by the penalty I was given for the accident with Rubens and the moment I had to pay it," he said. "It is sad to lose my Drivers' Championship chances in this way, especially knowing that I just needed to finish 5th today, to keep my hopes open."

Montoya's hopes were not only dashed by the penalty but also by the weather and fuel rig supplier Intertechnique. On his first pit stop on lap 17, Williams had to swap fuel rigs after a problem, which dropped Montoya to eleventh. He then served his drive-through just as the rain got really heavy and had to stop again on the next lap to change tyres.

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