Formula One news

McLaren ready to release Montoya without pay-off

The McLaren team is willing to release Juan Pablo Montoya from his F1 contract providing they do not have to keep paying his salary until the end of the year. Montoya quit F1 to drive a Dodge car in NASCAR.

Dodge is a brand owned by DaimlerChrysler, which also owns Mercedes and 40% of the McLaren F1 team and reports had suggested there might have been some pressure from within to let Montoya go.

"There are obviously some requests coming in from Chrysler," McLaren boss Ron Dennis told reporters at Istanbul. "We have no problem with releasing Juan Pablo early, we just don't see that we should be doing that and paying him at the same time."

"We are completely comfortable with either releasing him and stopping paying him or he stays in position," he added. "These things also impact on people's advertising and marketing programmes. There are repercussions to prematurely terminating his contract."

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