Monaco, May 24: Juan Pablo Montoya was cleared of deliberately causing an accident with Michael Schumacher in the Monaco Grand Prix here Sunday after the world champion's unbeaten start to the campaign ended in dramatic fashion. Schumacher had been searching for a record sixth successive victory at the start of a season, but he exited the race in bizarre fashion when he braked behind the safety car and Montoya nudged him into the wall in the tunnel. The pair were summoned to see stewards after the race but the sport's governing body the FIA said in a statement that no further action would be taken. Ferrari's Schumacher was running third overall but was at the head of the field with Jarno Trulli and Jenson button both having made their second pit stops.
He was attempting to warm his brakes up with the safety car due to return to the pit-lane when Montoya's Williams collided with him."Michael brakes very hard as he was warming up his brakes and I moved to the right side of the track to avoid him. But the gap narrowed and we touched," said Montoya. "If he was braking that hard he should have done it in a different place - not in the middle of the tunnel. It's very hard to judge. "I moved offline to try not to hit him and he came over exactly to where I was. I didn't have anywhere else to go.
"It was so unpredictable. He just stood on the brakes and you could see the left-front locked for quite a while. As soon as I saw the smoke, I straightaway tried to avoid him but there was nowhere to go. Bureau Report