McNish: No point being in F1 for the glamour.

Allan McNish has admitted that he would rather find another category to race in than stay with an unsuccessful team simply to say that he is a grand prix driver.

The Scot, released by Renault in favour of Frenchman Franck Montagny earlier this week, has said that he could risk his reputation by joining a team at the back of the grid rather than quitting Formula One altogether, and will be keeping his options open with regard to 2004.

Although he is rumoured to be on Jordan-Ford's short-list for next season -and has been tipped to fill a testing role with Ferrari - former Toyota driver McNish has said that he only has one goal in mind when he takes to the track - and he would rather pursue that target elsewhere if he thinks he has no chance of fulfilling it in F1.

"I race to win," he stressed to Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "I would like to stay in Formula One - but only if the circumstances are right.

"You can choose to be there simply for the sake of being there even if you're not competitive, but I race to win - not because I find it fun to drive fast. I'd prefer to win in another category of racing rather than stay in f1 just for the glamour or whatever.

"At this stage of my career, it would be a risk joining Minardi, for example, especially with the possibility of not moving up from there. There is no point being at the back of the grid just so that you can say you are an F1 driver."

McNish revealed immediately after news of his departure from Renault broke that he had options open to him for 2004, but refused to say exactly what these entailed. However, apart from the Jordan opportunity - should the rumours be true - the Scot is known to have impressed teams on the other side of the Atlantic during both his victorious ALMS season and a recent test with Penske.

"It has always been an ambition of mine to race in the Indianapolis 500," he confessed, "I've won Le Mans, I've raced in the Monaco Grand prix - so the Indy 500 is the last of the great theatres for me to appear in.

"That said, however, I still feel that I have unfinished business in Formula One...."