Looks like Juan Pablo Montoya will be able to start preparing for his NASCAR debut sooner rather than later - Team McLaren Mercedes announced Tuesday that they have released Montoya for the rest of the 2006 F1 season, replacing him with test driver Pedro de la Rosa for the French Grand Prix this weekend.


With current McLaren number one driver Kimi Raikkonen widely assumed to be going to Ferrari next year, de la Rosa will be hoping to turn his substitute drive into a full-time drive for 2007 alongside fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso. McLaren is also likely to use the opportunity created by Montoya's early departure from the team to try out their other test driver, Gary Paffett.


Another front-runner for either the #2 seat or a test driver spot at McLaren is young Lewis Hamilton, a Ron Dennis protege who is currently having an outstanding year in the GP2 championship series.


Related Articles: 2006 Formula 1 Teams - McLaren | Juan Pablo Montoya Not Worried About His F1 Future | Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR

GP2 sensation Lewis Hamilton reckons he is ready for a shot at the big time should he be given the chance to race for McLaren in Formula 1 next season.


The 21-year-old British ace, a long-time McLaren protégé, has been linked with a seat alongside Fernando Alonso in the race team in 2007, should Kimi Raikkonen opt to join Ferrari. And while McLaren does not often sign rookies to its race squad, Hamilton says his target is to race for the team next year.

“I’m feeling more and more ready for Formula 1, that’s for sure,” he told this week’s Autosport magazine.
“I want to race for McLaren. If that opportunity comes up, I want to grab it with both hands.
“So I’m really working my arse off to make sure I have every possible opportunity.
“I think if I keep on winning and performing like I did last weekend, they will find it hard to say no to me – unless someone like [Michael] Schumacher comes along.”

Team principal Ron Dennis admitted at Monaco last weekend that he expected Hamilton to be in F1 next year, but stopped short of saying in what capacity.

“Lewis’s first step is to succeed in GP2 and then we will guide him to the next and highest level,” he told the Times.
“Will he be in Formula 1 next year? I believe he will be. With which team? I don’t know yet.”

But Hamilton says one thing he doesn’t plan on is spending a season on the sidelines as a test driver for McLaren.

“I’m a racer not a test driver,” he told Autosport.
“If you’re going to be a test driver, you need to be in a third driver role where you can get used to the tracks. If you take year off you lose something.”

Click here to read a biography of Lewis Hamilton


Source: ITV Sport

Lewis Hamilton is a British racing driver, who was born in Tewin, in Hertfordshire in 1985.
After winning several karting championships, Hamilton was signed by McLaren's Young Driver Programme on a development contract in 1992 when he was 12. As a result, he has been well-funded throughout his burgeoning career. He has also raced in British Formula Renault in his career, and was European kart champion in 2000.


In 2005 he won the Formula Three Euroseries racing for the dominant ASM team, having raced in the category in 2004 for Manor Motorsport using the superior Mercedes engine.


In 2006, he joined ART Grand Prix team in the GP2 Series as a replacement for the previous year's champion Nico Rosberg. His performance in the GP2 Series has been impressive. At the European GP2 event he won both races, becoming only the second driver (after Nico Rosberg) to do so in the series history and won at Monaco from pole. At the moment he leads the championship, outperforming his more experienced team mate Alexandre Premat.


He has frequently been tipped to be the first black driver in Formula 1, but McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said that he has turned down possible advertising campaigns focusing on Lewis' ethnicity.

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