In the Friday
F1 Press Conference, four team principals were present: FLAVIO BRIATORE/Renault; RON DENNIS/McLaren; COLIN KOLLES/Midland; and JEAN TODT/
Ferrari. Dennis was asked how "the Montoya thing happen. How come he stood down?" Dennis said he wouldn't go into details, but did make it clear that: "Juan Pablo is fully contracted through to the end of the year, and if we so choose, he will test and race again, so that is at our option, nobody else's. There is plenty in the press that differs with that fact.
"The way it unfolded: clearly Juan Pablo has struggled at times and I feel that the team has always been totally supportive of him continues to be supportive of Juan Pablo. You might find that difficult to believe in the circumstances but we are.
"A few races ago, we had a conversation that was based on his desire to continue with
McLaren, his desire to stay in
Formula One and we came to the clear understanding that it was immaterial whether his objective was to stay in Formula One and whether the team would keep him, or whether he would go to another team.
"The objective, the best way to achieve that was to have the best results over the latter part of the season and that's the way we move forward and I felt that if he was focused on having the best end of the season. then a) to use my exact words, it would be easier for me to take a decision in the team, or b) that it would be easier and better for him...he would get better offer, so the common objective was 'let's get the best out of the balance of season.'
"Obviously, that objective was somewhat changed when he decided that in 2007 he would race in NASCAR, so then our objectives became different, I think. The appropriate course of action for the team was to let the whole thing cool off and let him sit and think about the circumstances that surrounded his involvement in the team until we had a very common objective for the remaining races."
