Michael: F1 lost a talent in Montoya

Montoya, who won four races with the Williams team in the four years he raced for them, has been stood down by McLaren after signing a long-term deal with Chip Ganassi Racing in NASCAR.

"[Montoya] had a massive amount of talent and I still felt he had at least another four or five years in F1 to prove that he could win again and I expected him to do that," said Michael. "So I felt it was a bit like a talent lost in F1 and a talent gained by NASCAR.

"In terms of when he drove for Williams we had some fantastic memories of the drives he did. Juan Pablo had a Latin temperament but that was also part of his passion. And that also resulted in some fantastic racing that he did for [our team], so I don't think he leaves F1 with nothing but good memories for Williams."

Asked if he knew the reasons why the Colombian driver left the Woking-based team, Michael replied: "I don't know what issues he had at McLaren. If you look at 2002 he had seven pole positions. Fantastic drives in 2003/04 - with that Brazil race at the end of the year - and especially in 2003 when he was fighting for the championship.

"I don't think you can say he was unsuited to F1. He has a lot more credibility than a lot of drivers in the sport. He had seven race wins, but it was his decision and that was it. He got to the stage where he thought he had to go and do something else.

"I'm sure it's going to be a tough transition to NASCAR," he added.