Sunday's British Grand Prix provided the first real opportunity for Juan Pablo Montoya to demonstrate his ability in wet and slippery conditions, and despite a distant third place behind the dominant Ferrari, the Colombian proved his worth. Richard Barnes analyses Montoya's performance at Silverstone, and explains why he made another step towards becoming Michael Schumacher's successor

Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya may only have struggled to a disappointing third place in Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Yet this race, more than any other, has cemented the Colombian's claim to inheriting Michael Schumacher's title as 'Best Driver of his Era'.

In his 26-race F1 career before Silverstone, the Colombian had only once been subjected to wet-weather driving. That was in the downpour that flooded the Sepang track in 2001. On that occasion, Montoya fell victim to the treacherous conditions. Considering that it was only his second F1 race, and that he was still over-driving terribly while coming to grips with the new formula, his lap three spin into retirement was understandable. Since then, fans have had no opportunity to gauge Montoya's race abilities in the wet.

At long last, Silverstone provided that opportunity, and Montoya did not disappoint. He was never going to beat the Ferraris in the greasy conditions that prevailed for most of the race. With the best chassis in the field, and arguably the two best wet-weather drivers on the grid, Ferrari will always dominate when the heavens open. Montoya's test was made even tougher by Michelin's tardiness in developing a competitive intermediate tyre. That Montoya managed to even mount a challenge, finishing as the only car not lapped by Schumacher and Barrichello, was an achievement in itself. If there were any questions about Montoya's aggression and skill in the wet, they've been answered comprehensively.

That's bad news for Ralf Schumacher. As an acknowledged wet-weather expert, it was one of the few remaining areas in which the German could claim superiority over his teammate. The younger Schumacher's aspirations to be Williams's champion-elect have been dented severely by Montoya this season. During the first ten races of 2001, Ralf outqualified his rookie rival by a margin of 9-1. Armed with a full year of experience, Montoya has swung matters 6-4 in his favour so far this season, including four successive pole positions.

Neither Williams driver is looking anywhere near as complete as Michael Schumacher but, if the next WDC is to come from the Williams stable, Montoya seems the logical option. Like the older Schumacher, and Gilles Villeneuve before him, Montoya seems able to drive around technical limitations, to turn in fast laps when logic dictates that it shouldn't be possible. Saturday's qualifying was just another example, with Montoya pulling a stunningly quick lap out of nowhere - and then blithely conceding that he had little idea how he'd found the speed.

Montoya surprised again with his pace once the rain started to fall on Sunday. Ordinarily in such conditions, you'd bet your house on Michael Schumacher finding the new traction limits faster than anybody else, and cruising into a dominant lead. Yet Montoya was having none of it, and continued to hold the German at bay in conditions tailor-made for the Ferrari driver. Perhaps Schumacher played his part in making Montoya look good. The Colombian looked constantly on the verge of losing control in the damp, and Schumacher wisely decided to keep a safe distance. After all, he had both time and circumstances on his side. With Rubens Barrichello fighting his way through traffic from the back of the field, and with the Michelin runners having no competitive intermediate tyres, Schumacher had the luxury of letting the race come back to him - which it duly did.

For the German, Barrichello's formation grid stall was both a blessing and a curse. Having been outqualified by his teammate for the third time in ten races (unprecedented in Schumacher's career), he needed a commanding and fair victory to re-establish his dominance at Ferrari. Doing it in Barrichello's favourite semi-wet conditions would have made the win that much more significant. Coming just three days after Rubens Barrichello's announcement that he was free to race Schumacher, the timing of the stall couldn't have been worse. Schumacher gratefully accepted the ten points as always, but the win will have done little to ease speculation about his retirement, or concerns about his reduced margin over Barrichello.

Two theories have been put forward as to why Barrichello is proving a handful for Schumacher this season. Damon Hill's theory, that the Austrian debacle has dimmed his old nemesis' passion for the sport, is patent nonsense. Drivers who have lost the edge don't lead World Championships by 54 points after ten races. Instead, they pull over and park perfectly healthy cars, claiming mysterious brake problems that team technicians are unable to find later. Damon Hill, of all people, should know that.

The other theory, mooted by Martin Brundle among others, is that Rory Byrne and his team have designed the perfect F1 car, a beast that adapts easily to the demands of any circuit in any weather conditions. This is certainly valid. In-car shots of the Ferrari reflect both Schumacher and Barrichello driving with Prost-like economy of movement. And idle hands usually indicate a brilliant chassis.

The results also back up this theory. In the heyday of the Hakkinen/Schumacher rivalry, there were 'McLaren tracks' and 'Ferrari tracks'. Now there are just 'Ferrari tracks'. Silverstone and Austria's A1-Ring were the only two circuits at which Ferrari failed to win in either 2000 or 2001. That chink in the Ferrari armour was plugged with emphatic victories at both tracks this season.

Schumacher's reputation was built largely on his performances in the nervous Benetton B195, a car that propelled him to his second WDC title but was considered impossible to drive by others. With the F2002 lacking a key technical shortcoming that would highlight Schumacher's peerless ability to balance the car on throttle, steering, brakes or any combination of the three, he has no platform from which to dominate his teammate. Or so it's argued.

The most likely truth is that Schumacher isn't pushing as hard as he could simply because he doesn't need to. Wherever Schumacher qualifies on the grid, it's a sure bet that the opposition will self-destruct. Schumacher could go on vacation for two months and return to still find daylight between himself and his Championship pursuers. Even if he decided to sit out the rest of the season, you'd struggle to find a bookie willing to take a wager against him clinching his fifth WDC title.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If Schumacher is currently winning by such a huge margin, what could he possibly gain by pushing harder to try and reassert total dominance over Barrichello? Although he might be tempted to go for it at France in two weeks, to beat Nigel Mansell's 1992 benchmark for clinching the title early. Mansell did it with five races remaining on the calendar, a Schumacher win in France (with Montoya and Barrichello finishing third or lower) would wrap up the title with six GP remaining.

It's a record that wouldn't mean too much. Schumacher doesn't have Ayrton Senna, albeit in an uncompetitive car, to validate the triumph. Although if Michelin, Williams and Juan Pablo Montoya can realise their full potential sometime soon, the Colombian may yet leave a legacy to rival the great Brazilian.