Tiago Monteiro’s management insisted on Tuesday that the Portuguese’s test in a ‘World Touring Car Championship’ (WTCC) SEAT at Valencia does not mean he is out of the running to remain in formula one in 2007.
The 30-year-old raced for F1’s Silverstone based team in 2005 and 2006 but for this year Spyker has signed Adrian Sutil to drive alongside Christijan Albers.
With the backing of the state-owned Galp oil company, Monteiro is reportedly still in with a chance of a role at Toro Rosso, despite his run in the Seat Leon.
A statement read: “While his management team is focused on securing his future in formula one, (Monteiro) accepted this nice invitation from Seat Sport.”
The test was Portuguese WTCC co-promoter Paulo Ferreira’s idea, the statement added, who is “obviously very interested in possibly having a Portuguese driver in the world championship.”
Monteiro is quoted as saying: “I still don’t have any contractual restrictions (so) I thought it was good timing.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
