Crash that ended an F1 career

Juan Pablo Montoya is leaving the sport just five years after arriving with a champion's pedigree. David Tremayne reports

After sparking a first lap crash during the US GP, Montoya will be replaced at McLaren

Did he fall, or was he pushed? That's the question being asked in Formula One circles, following Juan Pablo Montoya's sudden departure from McLaren days after the accident at the start of the US Grand Prix in which he ran into his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen moments after the start. The truth is that Montoya's career at McLaren was over long before that unfortunate incident, but it may have expedited his departure to race in America's Nascar Series next year.

As the field funnelled into the first two corners the inevitable complications arose as cars that had been running five or six abreast then had to thread through individually. As Jenson Button squeezed over on Raikkonen, who was on the inside for the second corner, the Finn had to back off and was hit from behind by Montoya, who also tagged Button and launched the Englishman into Nick Heidfeld, whose BMW barrel-rolled. Embarrassingly, given the presence of senior Mercedes-Benz figures, both McLarens were instant retirements.

The mercurial Colombian will be replaced for the remainder of the season by the Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, starting from this weekend's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

The news signals that McLaren, who had already informed Montoya his services would not be required next year even if he reduced his salary demands, have lost patience with a man whose Formula One career will be remembered as one of unfulfilled promise. On his day he could beat anyone, but he did not muster sufficient days to leave an ultimate impression as one of the sport's greats.

Montoya, 30, came into Formula One in 2001 with a brilliant pedigree, having won races in all of the categories he had tackled, secured championships in Formula 3000 and Cart ChampCars, and won the Indianapolis 500 at his first attempt in 2000. And he wasted no time in laying down a marker for Michael Schumacher with a breathtaking passing move on the German going into the first corner at Interlagos during the Brazilian Grand Prix. But the pattern that was to become all too familiar was set later in the race when he collided with the backmarker Jos Verstappen and was forced to retire.

Later that year he won the Italian GP, following that with wins in Monaco and at the Nürburgring in 2003 (the latter after another dramatic pass on Schumacher), and Brazil in 2004. He always demonstrated great speed, but became known for letting his temperament get the better of him on occasion. One such was at the 2003 French Grand Prix, where he roundly abused his Williams crew over the radio after mistakenly believing they had favoured his team-mate Ralf Schumacher for the victory. Though Sir Frank Williams and his business partner Patrick Head loved his racing spirit, such hot-headed behaviour created tensions.

Much was expected when Montoya switched to partner Raikkonen at McLaren for 2005, especially as senior managers Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh were adamant that they could channel more positively the passion and energy of a man who had developed a reputation as a maverick with a wild spirit and a penchant for speaking his mind. Things got off to a disastrous start when he injured a shoulder and had to miss several races. He bounced back to win the British Grand Prix, then added the Italian and Brazilian races to his tally, but generally he was overshadowed by Raikkonen and frequently got involved in silly on-track incidents with other drivers. His relationship with the team's management also failed to gel as well as had been expected.

This year he and Raikkonen have struggled to be competitive, and before the season midpoint McLaren had made it clear he was no longer wanted when his contract expired at the end of the year. Montoya explored other options in Formula One, notably with Williams and Red Bull, but they were lean too, prompting Montoya to take his occasional prickliness and wry sense of humour to the Nascar world, where he rejoins his old team owner, Chip Ganassi.

"Juan Pablo is an exciting driver and immensely likeable character who will undoubtedly make a successful transition to the Nascar scene," said McLaren chief Ron Dennis. "We have agreed that, with so many things happening, he should take some time out of the car and prepare professionally and personally for the future."

Montoya will now spend the next few months based in Miami with his family and wife Connie, who is expecting their second child in September. He is also expected to make an earlier than scheduled start to his initial preparations for his debut in a Ganassi-run Chrysler Dodge Nascar.

"We believe that his decision to move to Nascar is very important for him professionally and we will give him every support to ensure that it is a successful transition," said Norbert Haug, the vice-president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.

Montoya reiterated: "I know that it will be a tough transition, but I'm really excited about the opportunity to move into the Nascar championship. I have enjoyed most of my time in Formula One and I'm grateful for this opportunity to settle my personal life and concentrate on my career."

Montoya's departure is a big break for De la Rosa, who previously raced for Arrows and Jaguar and stood in for the Colombian in Bahrain last year and scored points on his racing debut for the McLaren team. "When I was racing before I was only 40 per cent. Now I am a lot better than that," the 33 year-old Spaniard said after working as McLaren's development driver since 2003. "If I have a good day I can be as quick as any of my team-mates, and that gives a guy a lot of self-confidence. I'm extremely thrilled to have this opportunity to race a car in which I'm really comfortable."

De la Rosa's promotion is not expected to have any influence on the chances of the upcoming British driver Lewis Hamilton being considered seriously by McLaren as the world champion Fernando Alonso's partner in the team next season.

Milestones: Montoya's F1 record

Formula One debut: 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Grand prix starts: 105.

Pole positions: 13.

Number of finishes: 67.

Grand prix wins: 7.

Podium finishes: 32.

Grand prix points: 333.

Fastest laps: 12.

First Formula One win: 2001 Italian Grand Prix.