Dennis Unhappy over Montoya's Incident

McLaren-Mercedes team principal Ron Dennis has complained that Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was at fault for the crash which took his driver David Coulthard out of Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Coulthard looked in line for a potential podium finish for the third race in a row, but he collided with the Williams-BMW of Montoya as the pair headed into the first corner on lap 28 at the Nurburgring.

The Scot described the event as a racing incident but said he wished Montoya had thought more of "the big picture" as the Colombian's tyres were causing him problems, and Dennis backed his driver as he spoke to reporters after the race.

"It's all very well but the fact is David was well past Montoya," said Dennis. "More importantly if you look at the history of this weekend, if you are in that place on the corner you are going to get the corner.

"It wasn't really as if there was nowhere for Montoya to go. He turned but he lost the back end into David."

Coulthard had tried a move around the outside but Montoya braked late and could not control his car as it slid into the McLaren-Mercedes, putting both out of the race.

Montoya apologised to Coulthard after the incident as the race continued and their respective teammates Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen eventually claimed the fourth and third spots.