Montoya tells Lewis: Steer clear of Massa

Montoya, who quit McLaren and Formula One two years ago to race in NASCAR, has tipped Massa to win the race on Sunday - but firmly believes that Hamilton must steer clear of him if he's to wrap up his first drivers' championship.

"I think Felipe will probably win the race," Montoya told autosport.com. "And if I was Lewis, I wouldn't be anywhere close to him. If Felipe comes anywhere near him, I would let him by.

"Lewis has got to play this pretty smart. When you're that young and you're in Formula One, you want to win every race. That's great, but when you're points racing all of a sudden, you've got to learn that a different result can be the best one for you.

"Ahead of this weekend, I'm sure they [McLaren and Lewis] will have talked about this, and he's just got to bring the car home in the points. Then he'll be world champion."

Montoya doesn't think that last year's disaster, when Hamilton went off on the first lap and then suffered a gearbox gremlin that caused him to miss out on the title, will play on their minds too much going into Interlagos.

"Maybe it will a little bit, because they know all about what happened last year, but I don't think they'll dwell on it," he said. "McLaren have won world championships before, so I think they'll do a pretty good job in Brazil.

"I think Lewis will win it, I'll be surprise if he doesn't. He's done a good job with his career and I think he's a great guy. F1 is all about the car, so if you've got that, it's all good for you."