Tuesday July 29th, 2003

By Biranit Goren

Williams denied today rumours suggesting Juan Pablo Montoya will be leaving the team prematurely, to join McLaren next year.

Rumours emerged during the British Grand Prix weekend that Montoya is set to leave Williams after this season, despite having a contract until the end of 2004, and replace David Coulthard at McLaren.

Reports of that nature have appeared in various publications around the world, speculating the Colombian has been unhappy with the team, after a much publicised rift at the French Grand Prix over race strategy decisions that he felt favoured his teammate Ralf Schumacher.

Asked to comment on these reports, team owner Frank Williams denied Montoya would be leaving the team and told Atlas F1: "It's not our policy to comment on media speculations, however Juan Pablo Montoya has a contract with the team until the end of 2004, and I have total confidence that he will honour this agreement."

Asked about further suggestions that McLaren are interested in signing Montoya for 2005, Williams added: "I cannot comment on other teams' drivers line-up for 2005."

McLaren refused to comment on these reports, a team spokeswoman stating that "we never comment on media speculation."

Published at 09:30:41 GMT

Picked from the Bunch:	<<  Previous  |  Jul Index  |  The Grapevine |  Next  >>
(03-11-2005): Australian GP Paddock Gossip (03-09-2005): Greece Finds Site for Formula One Track (03-09-2005): Red Bull Set to Get Honda Engines in 2006 (03-08-2005): Schumacher in Line for Sporting Oscars (03-07-2005): Daily Grapevine Sunday Analysis - Australia

© 1995-2005 Kaizar.Com, Inc. Copyright & Terms