27/08/2006
NEWS STORY
When Juan Pablo Montoya and McLaren parted company, days after the Colombian announced that he would be competing in NASCAR in 2007, it was widely assumed that it had been a clean break - unlike the damage to his elbow while playing tennis last year.
However, the Woking team then revealed that under the terms of his contract, Juan Pablo was still being paid by the team, and could therefore, should circumstances dictate, be called on to return to work, be it testing or contesting the remaining rounds of the 2006 World Championship.
With Montoya due to drive a Dodge, a brand owned by DaimlerChrysler, which has a 40 percent stake in McLaren, there is pressure for the Colombian get to work. Dennis has said that he is willing to release the 7-time GP winner, providing McLaren doesn't have to pay him.
"There are obviously some requests coming in from DaimlerChrysler," Dennis admitted. "We have no problem releasing Juan Pablo prematurely. We just don't see that we should be doing that and paying him at the same time.
"We are absolutely comfortable with either releasing him and stopping paying him or he stays in the position," added the Englishman, who revealed that there are further issues to be considered. "These kind of things impact on people's advertising programmes and marketing programmes. There are repercussions to prematurely terminating his contract."