There is little doubt that the mental approaches of Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are at opposite ends of the scale and, in 2002, they have proved that little has changed on the anniversary of their first real battle in Brazil 2001, clashing twice in three races. Atlas F1's Will Gray analyses the battle of the two men who are likely to make 2002 an unforgettable season

Colombian 'hothead' Juan Pablo Montoya provides a Latin temperament, gutsy driving, and a mouth that he just cannot keep shut. But one season down the line in his Grand Prix career, he is far from becoming more controlled. In fact, after the Brazilian Grand Prix he seems ready to explode.

Formula One is now a battle of minds. Montoya's second clash in two races with four-time World Champion Michael Schumacher at Interlagos last weekend suggested their mental approaches are at opposite ends of the scale and proved little has changed on the anniversary of their first real battle, at the same place in 2001.

Then, in only his third Grand Prix, Montoya challenged the master as the pair tore down to the tricky first corner at Interlagos after a safety car re-start. The clash of wheels was inevitable. The response from Schumacher controlled. "We touched, but I have no complaints about him and I congratulate him," said the reigning Champion. "It was a great move."

Fast-forward twelve months. In the sweltering heat of Brazil this year the pair were at it again, racing wheel to wheel, giving room but refusing to give in. It looked like they had pulled off another dramatic show for the enthusiastic crowd, but then, heading into turn four, Montoya's Williams-BMW smashed into the back of Schumacher's Ferrari. This time, the response from Montoya hit the other extreme.

"I thought we were going to have a fair fight, but it is obvious from what he did to me that we can't," stormed Montoya, claiming Schumacher had unfairly closed the door. "I only like to race with fair people who race fair as well."

Schumacher's response? Simple: "Very often in situations like this you get out of the car full of emotions," he said. "I understand him being mad but I don't have the impression I did anything wrong."

The race was in the bag for Montoya if he had just kept his cool. But although he has supreme car control as well as the talent to take on and stop the title dominance of his German arch rival, until that control is evident on a personal level he will never have the complete game to go all the way.

The crash was always going to happen. So, too, was the response. Taking opinions from Ross Brawn, technical director at Montoya's rivals Ferrari, Montoya's own team principal Sir Frank Williams and BMW boss Gerhard Berger, the holding court clearly finds in favour of Schumacher.

Yet, in a heated moment after Montoya stepped out of his racecar with two points for a fifth-place finish as Schumacher climbed to the top of the podium to take the winner's trophy, the Colombian set to his rival with a strong verbal assault.

The reactions within the sport have left Montoya with egg frying on his still-raging face and the strutting Schumacher, with an outstretched shatterproof chin, comfortably ensuring he is more than one-up on the Colombian in what is developing into the biggest rivalry since the feud between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Two great drivers in two clearly closely matched cars - this contest is something that Formula One has been desperately seeking since Schumacher's last great 'enemy', Damon Hill, left the scene and left Mika Hakkinen to take up the German's challenge in the grey McLaren-Mercedes.

And there is something distinctly comparable between Montoya and Schumacher when you re-trace the controversial moments of Schumacher's career. In his first year, like Montoya, he was not averse to finishing races earlier than he should as he explored the limit.

In the early Schumacher years, too, the controlled persona was not so evident. But since Montoya hit the track running last year, the Colombian's temperament has made the mostly unflappable Schumacher look like he is the new 'iceman' in Formula One.

Just three races after last year's Interlagos excitement, the pair set to it again, racing wheel-to-wheel in Austria. It all ended in tears on the 16th lap when Montoya could not hold his line, went into the gravel trap and took Schumacher along for the ride.

This time it was Montoya, trying too hard on dying brakes, who spoke conservatively. "It was just a racing accident," he claimed. But Schumacher did not rise to the bait. "I think Juan Pablo was not looking where he was going," he said simply and calmly. "Normally I enjoy this sort of thing, but not this time. It was stupid."

Tough words, but it is the way that the German Champion says them which is key to the whole rivalry. Montoya insisted recently that he is a calmer individual than he had been during his days in CART racing in America, but that all seems to be forgotten when he is faced with a crisis. Schumacher, on the other hand, is an old Pro. He says what he means, but he will use the same voice to call Montoya an idiot as he would to wish him a happy birthday.

Two clean moves from Montoya on Schumacher during the rest of last year, however, began to show that the Latin spirit was being dumbed down by a combination of team boss Frank Williams's calm words, the technical team of Patrick Head and Sam Michael, and Montoya's determination to better his approach at every race.

The battles continued to Australia at the start of this year, when the pair had a titanic scrap for the lead in Melbourne with Schumacher proving he still had the upper hand as the boys turned up for a new term at school and some more scraps in the playground.

But then came Malaysia. Race two of the season, and the pair had hardly got out their books before the sleeves were rolled up and the fight began. Their first corner clash saw Schumacher's front wing removed by the right wheel of Montoya's Williams. A shake of the fist from Montoya showed where he was placing the blame.

But the stewards judged Montoya to be in the wrong and issued him with a drive-through penalty and although the Colombian's move allowed him to beat Schumacher to second at the chequered flag, Montoya began the post-race press conference with a punt at his Ferrari rival.

"I gave him enough room. He touched me and that was it," he said. "To me it was a race incident but I was a bit pissed off because I thought he under-steered off into me - that's why I made the gesture."

Again, Schumacher's response was cool, calm and controlled. "You can see it from two ways. Obviously, if he had opened up more, we wouldn't have touched, but he wasn't willing to do this so there wasn't any room for me and we touched. I didn't see a drama in that."

The two agreed to call it a racing incident, but once again, chinks in Montoya's armour had been shown. The little wave of the fist proved it. There, in the car, his emotions had been stirred. In Brazil, in the steaming Interlagos pit lane, they were well and truly shaken - and the cocktail Montoya is mixing just keeps tasting better and better to bitter rival Schumacher.