Montoya quits early: McLaren names new driver
Juan Pablo Montoya is out of Formula 1 - and he's going back to the United States to drive in the NASCAR Nextel Cup. There had been suggestions that he would join Chip Ganassi once again but it was a surprise that this should be in NASCAR. Montoya had no opportunities left in F1 after failing to impress at McLaren. Montoya left Ganassi back in 2000 but did not enjoy the success that had been hoped for in F1. His attitude towards racing was not seen as being very serious although it was clear that he had enormous natural talent. Montoya sees NASCAR as a place to go racing again but he may find the lifestyle a bit of a shock as there is non-stop action from February to November.
The announcement was made on Sunday by the Ganassi team and the word is that Montoya will race the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. As a former CART Champion and Indy 500 winner there was little left for Montoya to prove in US open-wheeler racing.
Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa will replace Juan Pablo Montoya in Sunday's French Formula 1 GP after the Colombian parted company with McLaren on Tuesday.
"Team McLaren Mercedes and Juan Pablo Montoya have mutually agreed for him to step down in the forthcoming races of this year's F1 World championship," McLaren said in a statement.
"The team has decided that Pedro de la Rosa will join Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers' line-up."
Montoya took F1 by surprise on Sunday when he turned up in Chicago to announce he would move to Nascar racing in 2007 in a team run by Chip Ganassi, with whom he won the Cart championship and Indy 500 in 1999 and 2000
Montoya took F1 by surprise on Sunday when he turned up in Chicago to announce he would move to Nascar racing
.
The split means Montoya's farewell to F1 was almost certainly the recent US F1 GP at Indianapolis, the 10th round of the 18-race championship.
Montoya won four races with Williams and three with McLaren but at Indianapolis he collided with Finnish team mate Raikkonen going through the first turn.
The Colombian said of F1 on Sunday: "Anybody who watches the races knows it's not the most exciting thing to watch.
"How hard is it to pass a car in F1? You pass them and you touch wheels and you're an animal."
McLaren said the mercurial 30-year-old, whose wife Connie is expecting their second child, would spend the next few months in Miami preparing to race Ganassi's Dodge.
"Juan Pablo is an exciting driver and immensely likeable character who will undoubtedly make a successful transition to the Nascar scene," McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said
Montoya won four races with Williams and three with McLaren
.
"We have agreed that, with so many things happening in Juan Pablo's life right now, he should take some time out of the car to prepare professionally and personally for the future."
De La Rosa, the team's regular test driver, will make his second race appearance for McLaren at Magny-Cours after standing in for Montoya in Bahrain in 2005. He's a former Arrows and Jaguar driver who was fifth in that race and will be eager to impress with the team yet to confirm its second driver for 2007.
McLaren has already signed Spanish World champion Fernando Alonso from Renault and Raikkonen is expected to leave for Ferrari or Renault.
McLaren could not confirm that De La Rosa would be in the car for the rest of the season.
Last year both De La Rosa and Austrian Alexander Wurz, now with Williams, stood in for Montoya and the Colombian's absence could allow McLaren to try out their other test driver, Briton Gary Paffett.
"I know the MP4-21 better than anybody else and I'm confident that I can achieve World championship points for the team," De La Rosa said
