Option on his services taken up in November
Tiago Monteiro says his 2006 seat at MF1 Racing was never in doubt.

When the Portuguese driver stated in November last year that he had sealed a deal, team management denied it, while officially confirming Christijan Albers` sister race seat.

Even on the morning of the M16 launch in England, many F1 fans and journalists were still not sure if Monteiro had actually secured the ride, leading to many rumours but also criticism of the situation`s poor handling.

But Tiago says his agreement - an `option` on his 2005 deal - was taken up by the team on 2nd November, meaning that he was never in doubt.

"Maybe it was a bit confusing for some people," he admitted, "because maybe it was unclear. But we thought it was so simple because I was just continuing, not like Christijan who was a new driver to the team."

Monteiro also criticised 2005 Ferrari team-mates Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello for faking `glum faces` to the crowd`s boos at the farcical Indianapolis race. Monteiro, who was on the podium with them, said the Ferrari duo - before the presentation - `were very happy and then suddenly they had these faces.`

"I think (fans) got pissed off because not only had the race been destroyed, but they had two people on the podium with long faces."

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