They are both expected to be the heirs to Michael Schumacher's crown when the German calls it a day and retires from Formula One: Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen have demonstrated this season they are not ready to give each other an inch in their quest to dominate Grand Prix racing in the future. Atlas F1's Will Gray reviews both drivers' season and their chances of taking over Schumacher at the top of the F1 field

This time last year, Juan Pablo Montoya was about to claim his first victory in Grand Prix racing, but now his next could not look any further away. For the Colombian, twelve months, it seems, is a very long time in Formula One.

Fresh from the complete annihilation dealt out by World Champion Michael Schumacher at the last race in Belgium, Montoya returns to the scene of his maiden triumph admitting: "It is looking increasingly difficult for us to achieve the same result this year." But he is just biding his time.

The long straights of the flowing Monza circuit on the outskirts of Milan may play into the hands of the mighty BMW powerplant in the back of the Colombian's Williams, but after a confidence-battering driving lesson from Schumacher in the last race, Montoya's has been left admitting third in Italy would now equate to a win.

The defeatist attitude, however, is not typical of the ebullient Formula One hopeful and he is still in line to become the next real challenger to Formula One's 'Red Baron'. But his guns are far from blazing as he attempts to tackle the German win machine, and the realism and acceptance is pure Montoya.

For some reason - probably his exuberant personality or the fact that his teammate Ralf Schumacher will always be seen as five-time World Champion's little brother - Montoya is seen as the man that Sir Frank Williams is breeding to lead the team's assault on Ferrari. But as the Colombian faces up to his reducing chances of success, he claims his engineering team has been missing the finer points in the last few races, insisting their small errors have contributed to the colossal gap between Williams and Ferrari.

"My side of the team have become a little bit over-confident," said Montoya. "I have got to say we had a bit of a weak link in the last two races in the way things have been done. Silly things, where we have been giving away a lot of lap time.

"I have been pushing the team really hard. The way things have been done in the last few races has not been done technically correctly. For example the ride height. In Belgium, the car was bottoming out a lot. It was just touching the ground and it was slowing me down quite a lot on the straight - but they only noticed halfway through qualifying. How much data have you got to see that? Suddenly they pick it up and you pick up 4 km/h down the straight."

There is, of course, no point getting worked up by the fact that the team at Ferrari are working together better than the team at Williams. But Montoya is getting desperate for his next win, and targeting the little things in his new clear and calm manner should make the whole picture a little clearer.

The temperamental Colombian has blown hot and cold this season, as he did last season. In fact, for all his hype, he has to a great extent been a bit of a disappointment. After early fights with Schumacher this season - when the German was still racing in his old car - Montoya faded as teammate Ralf Schumacher rose to the ascendancy.

A couple of podiums were then followed by a switch in luck as Montoya swapped his race pace for qualifying speed and claimed a run of five consecutive pole positions, which extended from the Monaco Grand Prix in May to France at the end of July. They were a highlight - but he failed to convert any one of them into a win.

After waging strong words of war in the early part of the season, when Montoya thought he would be in a fight with Schumacher for the World Championship, the Colombian has mellowed and he now freely admits that the German star is a cut above the rest - even him.

"I never really put any attention to how good he is, but you have got to say Michael is on top and there's probably the rest of us around there," admitted Montoya. "He has probably got the same speed as a lot of the guys here but he has got the knowledge.

"What is happening with Michael is that the people around him really understand what he wants from the car. They are very experienced people and I think that really plays into his hands quite a bit. You never see him struggling, you never see a Ferrari sliding around.

"Michael's starting point is much higher than ours and that is a huge help to him. His confidence is really high and he has a good car so unless someone comes out with a huge advantage, then Michael's confidence is going to be still there.

"But if you show Michael that what he does normally is not good enough to win then his confidence and everything is going to start shaking, and that's what you need. We need to step it up and next year's car is going to be more of a revolution - but the question is whether that revolution is going to be sufficient enough to beat them."

But Formula One can take heart that although Montoya seems only an outside bet to claim the win this weekend, he has already shown the will and the skill to win. In the adverse circumstances that greeted him at Monza post-September 11 last year, he kept control and roared to victory.

On the back of that victory, although none more have come his way, Montoya has pointed to the future picture of Formula One when Schumacher calls it a day. But his ever-improving Finnish rival Kimi Raikkonen could stand in his way and it seems a two-way battle for the German's crown could be brewing.

As Montoya heads to Monza remembering the anniversary of his debut win, Raikkonen will be celebrating the conclusion of the first year of what is bound to be a long association with McLaren-Mercedes. It was in Monza last year that he was announced as the replacement for elder Finn Mika Hakkinen, and he has grasped his opportunity with both hands.

Raikkonen places himself at the opposite end of the entertainment spectrum to Montoya off the track but conclusively proved last weekend that he has the talent to rival the Colombian as Formula One's man of the future on it. The young McLaren star was in the middle of an impressive weekend when, in his first quick qualifying lap on the Spa-Francorchamps track, he was blinded by the remnants of Olivier Panis' blown up Honda engine. But he just kept on driving and used his racing instinct to guide him.

"I saw absolutely nothing and I just quickly went on the radio and asked which way I need to go," said Raikkonen after the session. "It wasn't very nice but then I suddenly saw the oil line and I just took the opposite side and went through the smoke."

Clearly cool on the exterior, the quiet Finn showed he is just as cool on the inside when he pulled off the astonishingly 'ballsy' move. And even Montoya admitted Raikkonen's courage, which demonstrated the commitment required to race to the top, was something special.

"He is a young guy who wants to kick everybody's arse as well and I think it is good for Formula One," said Montoya. "He is a quiet guy who just wants to drive the car as quick as he can. I think he is pretty good."

Raikkonen, meanwhile, took it all in his stride. To him, the weekend was just another part of the long learning curve on which he is travelling - but to many the Spa weekend was the moment the quiet Finn shot out of his shell. He beat five-time World Champion Michael Schumacher in the Friday and Saturday practice sessions on a track the German knows so well he has termed it his 'living room'.

That he lost out in qualifying was no surprise - but the fact that he was 'the best of the rest' on a weekend when the Deutschland Destroyer's dominance was almost overpowering showed a clear step in the right direction. McLaren's new golden boy had shown Montoya he is up for a fight for a place in Schu's shoes.

"It is important to be as good as possible," he said. "If I get in the front row or first place or as good as I can go it is always good for me - but I wouldn't say because I am young it is going to be more important than next year."

The young Finn, who has so far gone about his business in a very quiet and perhaps deliberately understated manner, in keeping his feet firmly on the ground. But McLaren boss Ron Dennis has gambled his team's long-term plans on the Finnish wonderkid and he has not been disappointed.

"He was relaxed at the first race and as each one goes past he is more relaxed and focused," said Dennis. "He is becoming more confident. I think that will continue for several years. It will be a while before he reaches what he will consider to be his best position as a driver and I think his package has got to be capable of performing. But so far Kimi has done exceptionally well."

While the Spa race was one of Schumacher's most dominant exhibitions to date, it left Raikkonen and Montoya to briefly fight for position behind him - a situation that is now becoming a regular occurrence. For the third race in succession the pair came wheel-to-wheel on the racetrack and for the third time they both respected each other enough to have a close but fair fight.

To Dennis, their battles have been some of the most encouraging moments of the 2002 season, and after their most recent fight he admitted: "They are the two that are showing the best potential at the moment." But the question is how will they develop - and how quickly. On past form, Raikkonen has shown he has a very sensible head on young shoulders. That ensured his rocketship rise through the ranks to a top drive in Formula One with McLaren just two and a half years after first setting foot in a racing car.

Montoya, who started in Formula One at the same time, has established himself rapidly after moving straight into a high-profile race seat, but brings with him the experience of several years in the United States as well as a long rise up the ladder.

Both Raikkonen and Montoya have already shown they can beat their respective teammates, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher, and if Raikkonen continues his quick learning curve he could even overtake his rival as the man to knock Schumacher off his perch. But Montoya admits only time will tell who will mature to take over the Schumacher mantle.

"The question is, over the years how much are we going to evolve? Which are the drivers that are going to do that? I think that is very important," said Montoya. "On the basis of knowledge, you would think guys like David and Ralf should kick our arse massively because the many years they have been in Formula One should help them, but it hasn't made a huge difference.

"I think that is a lot in the team to help you evolve that knowledge. I think the people you work with and around can make a huge difference in the end result of your career. If you have got people who don't push you to move forward you are not going to go any further forward because you don't need to.

"You want to, but there is nobody telling you what is going on here, trying to get more out of you. I think that it is very important to get people working around you and pushing you more."

Schumacher, the best at working a team around him, is still likely to rule the roost next year and, with such a well-structured team, Ferrari will not be toppled very easily.

But with Schumacher et al set to end their dominant time at the Italian team at the end of 2004, the track should be free for the two upcoming stars. So what about the chances of a battle between the pair for the 2005 world crown when Schumacher and Ferrari are out of the way? Turning to monosyllabic 'Kimi' speak, Montoya had one simple response: "Yeah. That would be really good." Bring it on.