Toro Rosso wanted to sign Juan-Pablo Montoya as a replacement for Red Bull-bound Sebastian Vettel.
Franz Tost, STR’s Team Principal, has revealed that he looked into whether the Colombian was interested in a return to F1. “Unfortunately he no longer wants to be in Formula One,” Tost told Auto Motor und Sport. The magazine also claimed that Nelson Piquet Jr was also offered Vettel’s seat, but Piquet is staying with Renault.
Who will take Vettel’s seat then? Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi, Japanese journeyman Takuma Sato and Brazilian glamour boy Bruno Senna are all rumoured to be in the frame - two of those three drivers could end up with a drive in 2009, as Sebastien Bourdais isn’t guaranteed to keep his seat either.
Which driver line-up do you think Toro Rosso should opt for? Vote below:
Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into Nascar series leader Kyle Busch - intentionally! - during Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (we won’t use any other undustrial tools). The fiery Colombian was hit with a two-lap penalty for “rough driving” and so relegated to a 32nd-place finish.
“Honestly, I have no idea (what happened). I got a run on him with 50 laps to go and got to his outside and he kept coming up a little bit,” Busch said after the race.
“I was just trying to get around (Dario Franchitti) who was in front of us, touched (Montoya) on the door and he turned left and spun me out. I don’t know what his beef is.”
J-P Montoya, currently competing in NASCAR, has slagged off F1 in an interview with The Times.
“Formula 1 drivers are convinced that they’re so much better than anyone else,” Montoya said. “When I was in F1, every week I was on the podium. It was cool, but is it satisfying? It wasn’t, because it was the most boring races.
“The guy who started in front of you would drive away from you, and the guy who was behind you would drop away from you, unless you [had] f***ed up in qualifying – and then you needed to have a different pit-stop strategy to beat them.”
F1 is not as much fun without J-P “Mad Dog” Montoya, as this short video clip proves.Why was Montoya so pissed off? Because he believed Kimi had just brake-tested him, whilst he (Montoya) was on a hot qualifying lap.
Anyone know at which GP this happened? Montoya was in a Williams and Kimi was at McLaren, so it must have been taken between 2002-2004. That much we do know.
Nascar’s hottest property interested in Toyota trial
Meet Kyle Busch, the 23-year-old star of Nascar. There he is, standing atop his Toyota after a race win at the Darlington Speedway earlier this month. Being a classic American showman, he does that after each victory. But then he was born in Las Vegas - it figures.
Busch is a great stock-car driver, but is he talented enough to make the switch to F1? It could happen, whether he’s good enough or not. The Las Vegan has revealed that he will test drive Toyota’s F1 car at the end of 2008: “We’re working on a test session right now at the end of November or beginning of December sometime - going to Japan and doing a little exhibition sort of deal and see what it’s like,” he said.
Juan Pablo’s missus, a higher class of WAG altogether
Unlike their footballer counterparts, racing drivers tend to go for WAGs with beauty, brains and talent. Step forward Connie Montoya, who has been married to Juan Pablo since 2002. She studied law at college and co-founded the Formula Smiles charity, which helps underprivileged children in her native Colombia.
Montoya: “It’s just an old guy trying to have some fun”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Juan Pablo Montoya said that he “loved” the Mosley affair, and also that he viewed it as a “laughing matter”. This reaction will probably play well with Jewish Nascar fans… wait, there aren’t any Jewish Nascar fans, so it’s alright. The Colombian driver stopped short of saying if he thought Mad Max should resign as FIA chief, but one of his comments – “He’s just an old guy trying to have some fun!” – suggested that Montoya didn’t believe Mosley had to step down.
