Montoya:McLaren Playing Favorites

[Dare]

Former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes that, despite their protestations to the contrary, McLaren have made Lewis Hamilton their number one driver.


Montoya believes that, although Hamilton is a good driver, his teammate Fernando Alonso is not receiving equal treatment from the team.


Montoya told AP: "I think the kid is doing a good job, they have the fastest car and he's clearly the No. 1 on the team. But there's always a No. 1 at McLaren. I mean, Fernando Alonso said it himself. Didn't he? That's what the media was saying.


"I don't really follow it too much, but Ron (Dennis) paid his whole career. He got to Formula One because Ron paid for his whole career. Aside from the kid having talent, Ron paid for him. Ron has told him where to go, arranged the deals for him, and paid for it over his whole career. He's been under Ron Dennis since the kid was 8 years old or something.


"The long-term of McLaren is Hamilton. That's the thing, they are both doing a really good job, and the car is really fast. So even if you do a bad job in a good car, you are still going to finish second or third. And (in Canada), everybody messed up but him, and he won the race. And he's been getting quicker and quicker. And I heard Fernando is not very comfortable in the car, either."


Montoya doesn't doubt Hamilton's ability however, stating: "Oh, he's really good. I am not going to say the guy is not good. The guy is really good. But he has an advantage that ... they are always going to say that it's equal stuff. But there really always is a favourite driver on the team."