Montoya Gets Full McLaren Support

The Colombian's performance was already under scrutiny prior to Montreal after he caused a multi-car pile-up during practice at Monaco and then collided with Mark Webber at the first corner of the European Grand Prix.

After getting black-flagged for running through a red light at the exit of the pitlane during the late-race Safety Car period in Canada, having made a mistake and run wide coming out of the pits after an earlier stop, Montoya has done little to ease the focus on him.

But McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh has said the team have not got any concerns about Montoya's driving and are confident that he can turn around his recent frustrations quickly.

"I think the only person who can get more out of Juan Pablo is Juan Pablo himself," explained Whitmarsh. "All we can do is build an environment that fosters and supports that development.

"In Formula One, he is a guy who has not fulfilled his full potential but he is fitter than he has ever been. He is capable of giving Kimi a hard time and we want him to do that.

"We have to re-group. He is pretty resilient and although his starting position gives him an extra challenge for Indy, he is capable of rising above that and he will be determined to do well there because of his history and success there."

Although Whitmarsh is keen for Montoya to eradicate the kind of incidents from his driving that have marred his recent performances, he is well aware that circumstances have conspired against him.

"He has had a bloody hard time this year. He could have won this race, he would have been on the podium in Spain were it not for the fuelling incident, he would have been on the podium in Monaco were it not for the incident prior to the race and he would have been on the podium at the last race had he not been punted from behind by Webber.

"In the last four races he should have been on the podium, so for him it is deeply frustrating. He missed two races after his accident and at the start he had to get used to the team.

"We struggled to adapt to his driving style but once we adapted it he was out with the accident and since then he has one issue after another. We have a lot of sympathy for him and I hope we can help him to win a few races this year and I am sure we will."