Montoya sympathises with struggling champs E-mail
Jul.6 (GMM)  Juan Pablo Montoya says he sympathises with the current plights of formula one world champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Colombian Montoya, the winner of 7 grands prix since his debut in 2001, switched to America's premier NASCAR series in the middle of the 2006 season, disillusioned with his situation at McLaren.

"To them (Alonso and Hamilton) I say 'welcome to the club'," the now 33-year-old said in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE from the latest round of the Sprint Cup.

Montoya said the fact that success in F1 is only possible with the very best car had become "monotonous" throughout his six years on the grid.

Referring again to the struggling former champions, he added: "That it is now happening to them is really sad."

Montoya said other aspects of the so-called pinnacle of motor racing also left him disillusioned.

"In the beginning you fight and you're happy to be there," he said of formula one.  "I did fast times, I got several poles, I won some races.  The perfect dream.

"But after two or three years you see how everything in the team works, how it is manipulated.  And you see that if you want to win you have to be with a particular team and that's pretty frustrating," said Montoya.

Also frustrating is the fact that, if a team's single-seater is not born competitive, there is "nothing you can do" to return to the pace in that season, he added.
 

tickets

Be our newshunter

We urgently need a newshunter for F1complete.com - Contact us for more information.

Current race

Hungarian GP
Friday practice 1
Friday practice 2
Saturday practice
Qualifying
Race

2010 Calendar

RdGrand Prix Info
1Bahrain GP p1p2p3QuRace
2Australian GP p1p2p3QuRace
3Malaysian GP p1 p2 p3 Qu Race
4Chinese GP 18 April
5Spanish GP 9 May
6Monaco GP 16 May
7Turkish GP 30 May
8Canadian GP 13 June
9European GP 27 June
10British GP11 July
11German GP 25 July
12Hungarian GP 1 August
13Belgian GP 29 August
14Italian GP 12 September
15Singapore GP 26 September
16Japanese GP 3 October
17Korean GP 17 October
18Abu Dhabi GP 31 October
19Brazilian GP 14 November
We have 217 guests online
Follow us on Twitter

Driver table

1 Jenson Button70
2 Fernando Alonso67
Sebastian Vettel60
Full table

Team table

1 Red Bull156
2McLaren 131
3 Ferrari124
Full table

search