So long, Juancho

Juan Pablo Montoya is leaving McLaren and Formula One for - of all things - NASCAR. I was initially shocked about the move from open wheelers to tin-top stock cars, but it's starting to make more sense. NASCAR's all about aggression, as is Montoya (who was once nicknamed Nutsack as a tribute to his ... courage). He's raced in North America before and amazingly, NASCAR is by far the most popular motorsport series in the USA. They like their motorsport like their action movies - crashes, explosions and some flashes of boob from the grid girls. Sounds good, but that's what movies are for, right?

Already it seems the McLaren fans I've spoken to already have a sense of "well he wasn't much good in the McLaren anyway, he was always moaning about how the car didn't suit him". Looking at it in hindsight, it was a gamble to hire a dashing, outspoken personality in the very vanilla, politically correct, "one race at a time" McLaren team. A gamble that has backfired quite terribly. When I think about all of Juancho's greatest moments - passing Schuey in Brazil 2001 and USA 2001, seven poles in 2002 - were at Williams, not McLaren.

Regardless of how he's underperformed, I'm still surprised that Montoya would leave if Kimi is going to Ferrari next year (which the majority of press are claiming will happen). World champion Fernando Alonso will head the team, which is awesome, but who will partner him? Pedro de la Rosa's having a shot at it by completing the rest of the season at McLaren, but I'd expect they'd try to headhunt a bigger name - a Mark Webber or a Jenson Button. Budding F3000 Brit Lewis Hamilton is also expected to get involved with McLaren next year, but probably with a couple of tests in the summer more than anything. Ironically, a workmate and I think old McLaren stalwart David Coulthard would be the best fit if he wasn't so ... old.

Almost everyone can agree that Montoya brought a real flavour to F1 by at least bucking the trends. When all others are keeping their cards close to their chest, he was never afraid to tell it like it is - often with expletives and all. When he arrives in the States, I imagine he'd summarise his time in F1 just as typically. "You know, it was preetty sheet."