McLaren not ruling out Montoya return

Despite having being replaced by test driver Pedro de la Rosa for this weekend's French Grand Prix, McLaren team chief Ron Dennis on Friday said it was more than possible that Montoya could return to the cockpit of a Formula One car.

Montoya shocked the world of Formula One last weekend when he announced he would leave the sport to drive for Chip Ganassi's team in the NASCAR series.

The announcement followed the decision between the Colombian and McLaren to part company, but Dennis said Montoya is still under contract by the team.

"Juan Pablo is fully contracted to the end of the year and if we so choose he will test and race again, that is our option and no one else's," said Dennis. "There is plenty in the press that differs with that fact.

"The way that is unfolded, clearly Juan Pablo struggled at times and I feel the team has always been totally supportive of him and continues to be supportive. You might find that difficult to believe in the circumstances.

"A few races ago we had a conversation that was based on his desire to continue with McLaren, his desire to stay in F1 and we came to a clear understanding that it was immaterial whether his objective was to stay in F1, or whether the team would keep him, or if he went to another team, the best way to achieve that was to have the best results in the latter part of the season, that is how we moved forward.

"I felt if he was focused on having the best end of season, I thought it would be easier for me to take the decision to keep him in the team, and better for him to get a better offer, so common objective was to get the best out of the season.

"Obviously that objective somewhat changed when he decided that in 2007 he was going to race in NASCAR so the objectives became different. The appropriate action was for him to cool off and think about his situation until we have a common objective for the remaining races."

When asked if he could see Montoya racing for his team again this year, Dennis said: "More than possibly. He is still a contracted driver. It is possible."

Dennis, however, said Spaniard de la Rosa was likely to retain the seat, and he ruled out Gary Paffett or GP2 leader Lewis Hamilton making their Grand Prix debut this year.

"It is likely Pedro will continue in the car but we are a team who decides how the drivers are utilized and these drivers are all contracted to us and we will go down the path we have got."

There had been suggestions that Montoya could make his NASCAR debut even as early as next week, but Dennis has quashed that option altogether.

"He is a contracted McLaren driver and he will stay that way until the end of his contract unless there is a commercial arrangement between us and a NASCAR team or Juan Pablo himself," added Dennis.

"There is a conflict of sponsors, marketing campaigns and plenty of reasons why that is not a practicable solution."