Monteiro lands 2nd Midland F1 seat?

UPDATE #3 Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro is not yet all signed up to race for Midland's 'MF1' team next year.

A spokeswoman for the Northamptonshire based grand prix outfit insisted on Friday that, although the FIA published the 28-year-old's name on the official entry list, the Monteiro deal is 'still not completely finalized'.

''We have an option on Tiago,'' she explained, ''and that is why the FIA listed him.'' The Midland spokeswoman also told us: ''But until such time as everything is fully resolved, we will not be making an official announcement.''

Monteiro will test alongside confirmed '06 driver Christijan Albers at Jerez on Friday.

11/15/05 MF1 Racing's press release letterhead today was quite revealing – Gone are Narain Karthikeyan's main sponsors (Tata, Speed), but still displayed are Galp and the 'Portugal' logo, indicating that Tiago Monteiro has indeed signed to drive alongside Christijan Albers. 11/11/05 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. See Hot News page for details. Our F1 Silly Season page above has been updated. 11/07/05 Portuguese sports newspaper Record reports that Tiago Monteiro has already signed with Midland F1 to be the squad’s second race driver alongside Dutchman Christijan Albers in the 2006 season. This of course means Indian Narain Karthikeyan is out of a ride. We have updated our 2005 F1 Silly Season page above.