Juan Pablo Montoya's first impression of his new teammate wasn't good.

Ralf Schumacher, younger brother of Formula One's biggest star, was already established as No. 1 at Williams and wasn't going to relinquish that honor easily.

	Juan Pablo Montoya has three poles and six top-fives, including three runner-up finishes, in 2002.

The two young driving phenoms mostly ignored each other, but there was also the occasional barb during an interview.

"My teammate has nothing to teach me,'' Schumacher said when asked if the two could help each other become better drivers.

Montoya responded, "I pay no attention to what he does.''

That was last year, when Montoya arrived on the F1 scene, heralded by some as the next superstar, even as Schumacher apparently was making at least some inroads into his brother's domination.

Now, after all the words written and spoken about the latest feud in a sport filled with acrimony, it appears the two drivers really have begun to work together to try to catch the high-flying Ferrari of four-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher.

Although they find themselves far behind Michael, who is quickly heading toward matching Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five titles, Montoya and the younger Schumacher are tied for second in the standings after eight of 17 races.

Montoya has three poles and six top-fives, including three runner-up finishes, while Ralf has five top-fours, including a victory in Malaysia. Still, both trail the elder Schumacher by 43 points.

Since Michael seems so far out of reach, what the Williams teammates are doing now is concentrating on getting better, perhaps with some help from each other.

"Ralf's driving style is quite similar to mine,'' Montoya said before the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. "It's always the same between the two of us. I think he's adopted some things from me and me from him.

"When we look at the data, it's hard to tell who is in the car.''

Does that mean a friendship is brewing?

Montoya shrugged.

"I don't spend any time with anybody from the track, to be honest. This is one of the things I learned from America. You don't make friends from the track; you bring them to the track,'' he said. "You don't come here to socialize, you come here to race.''

The German driver said the most important thing is that the teammates work together with no animosity.

"Juan and myself get on better and better,'' Schumacher said. "There are always stories about how he does this to me and says that, or I say this or do that. Most of it is made up and never happens.

"It's in every team that a driver tries to be as fast as your teammate. We're not really friends, but I have no problem at all with him.''

Asked if he also believes their driving styles are very similar, Schumacher said, "It looks like that in the data.

"That makes it a perfect team. Whatever he wants, I want, which makes it perfect for development of the car.''

Montoya didn't push his teammate much in 2001, although he did win his first Grand Prix late in the season in Italy.

Mostly, the quiet Colombian was trying to find an elusive comfort zone with his new team.

"I think after Montreal last year, I really got teed off at the team and I told them when the car was bad, it was bad, and when the car was good, it was good,'' Montoya said. "We started making some changes to the car, and the car we are driving now is my own set-up, and that's all the difference.

"I'm more comfortable this year. ... And I'm a lot happier. I think the team believes in me quite a lot. If I tell them there's a problem, they fix it. Last year, it was `No, no, you need to do more laps and learn the circuit. You need to do more this, more that.' Now everything is a different approach and it's working well.''

Frank Williams, the longtime F1 team owner, saw Montoya's potential and made him a test driver for Williams in 1998, when he was only 22. After Montoya won the Formula 3000 championship that year, Williams sent him off to America for some seasoning from Chip Ganassi's elite team in the CART series.

He was an immediate hit, winning the CART title in 1999 and getting a victory in the 2000 Indianapolis 500.

At that point, Williams was ready to bring Montoya back for a real shot at F1.

"He's only in his second year of Grand Prix racing and there's still a sharp learning curve, but his mind is open to it and he understands who and what he's up against,'' Williams said. "Despite the difficulties, he really has got a lovely attitude. The team loves him. He always tries.''