Montoya Out?

Rumours are going around this morning that Juan Pablo Montoya has breached his contract with McLaren-Mercedes by revealing what he will be doing next season, and that he will therefore not drive for the Woking based team again. Pedro de la Rosa will step up to the Race seat from the French Grand Prix this weekend.

Confirmation is expected from McLaren-Mercedes later today.

edit @ 10:46am

McLaren-Mercedes have confirmed that Montoya is to play no further part in the 2006 F1 Season.The following is a press release from McLaren Mercedes.

Team McLaren Mercedes and Juan Pablo Montoya have mutually agreed for him to step down in the forthcoming races of this year's Formula 1 World Championship. The team has decided that Pedro de la Rosa will join Kimi Raikkonen in the race driver line-up.

Juan Pablo has been an energetic member of the team since 2005, but will now spend the next few months based in Miami with his family and wife Connie who is expecting their second child in September. Following his agreement with Chip Ganassi Racing for next year, Juan Pablo will also be making initial preparations for his debut in a Chrysler Dodge NASCAR.

Pedro will make his second race appearance for the team following a thrilling points scoring debut in the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nothing about a breach of contract, just that they support his decision to move to NASCAR and have come to an agreement to give him time to adjust to his new life.

I'm a bit gutted, I've been a fan of JPM since his CART days, so I was hoping to relish his final outings in F1. I would like to wish him all the best for his future in NASCAR and beyond, who knows Jacques Villeneuve has expressed an interest in racing there and apparently Mika Hakkinen is also looking at the possibility so it could be quite interesting to watch in the next few years!