Montoya: I'm Here to Win

Montoya was challenging his teammate for pole position at round 12 of the 19-race series when he spun off into the tyre barrier at the final corner and sentenced himself to a back of the grid start.

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis's reaction was clearly one of frustration as he looked set to have both his drivers on the front row of the grid for tomorrow's race.

For McLaren's hopes in the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, it is vital that they take as many points as possible away from Fernando Alonso and Renault respectively.

Montoya, however, said: "The car was very good but I just made a mistake in the last corner, lost it, and that was it. The car had understeer through there in practice and I was expecting that again and was very aggressive on turn-in.

"This time I didn't get any understeer and that's why I went off. It was very close with Kimi and I was going for it."

Asked why he took the extra risk when he could comfortably have been on the front row, Montoya said: "Why would I want to nail second place when I could have nailed first?

"If the team is looking for someone to be second then they need to hire a different driver because I'm here to win."

Dennis denied that he was expecting anything else from his driver.

"It isn't up to anyone to determine where one of the drivers is going to finish up, other than first," he said. "The reality is that we are not talking to the drivers on the radio during a qualifying lap. It is 100% commitment and everything is on the line."