Profile of Juan Pablo Montoya on Famous Like Me

Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian Formula One motor racing driver. He was born in Bogotá where his father, Pablo, worked as an architect — inspired by renowned Colombian architect Rafael Acosta — and raced karts in his free time. Montoya resides in the principality of Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Miami, Florida. He is married to Connie (née Freydell), a native of Medellín, Colombia, with whom he has a child, Sebastian.

Early career

Montoya began racing karts in 1981 at the young age of six, and by age nine he won the Children's National Kart Championship. In 1986, he won the junior division of the National Championship. For the next three years, he won many local and national titles in the Kart Komet Division. Montoya capped off his spectacular karting career by winning the Kart Junior Championships in 1990 and 1991.

Montoya moved to the Copa Formula Renault Series in 1992. The same year, he also participated in a U.S. series operated by Skip Barber. 1993 saw Montoya switch to the Swift GTI Championship, a series he dominated by winning seven of eight races. The following year, 1994, was a very busy year for the 19-year-old Colombian, as it saw him race in three separate series: the Sudam 125 Karting, USA Barber Saab, and Formula N in Mexico (a series in which he won the title). As his success continued year after year, Montoya came to be known for his uncanny ability to win pole positions (as well as races), in some cases taking 80% of a season's poles.

For the next three years, Montoya raced in various divisions, continually progressing upward. He raced in the 1995 British Formula Vauxhall Championship, and he won the 1996 British Formula 3 crown, as well as taking part in events in Zandvoort, Netherlands and at Silverstone. In 1997, while driving in the Formula 3000 series, Montoya's manager, David Sears, brought Montoya to the attention of the Williams F1 team, which signed him to a multi-year testing contract.

Entry into F1

The championships continued to roll in, as Montoya won the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship. The next year, Williams sent Montoya to America to compete in the 1999 CART tournament, where he won the championship in his rookie season. He won seven races that year, secured seven pole positions, and at the age of 24, was the youngest driver ever to win the series. The following year, his team, Chip Ganassi Racing, struggled because they made the switch to Toyota engines, and he finished a disappointing ninth in the Championship — despite these struggles, he still won an amazing seven pole positions. He also claimed victory in the 2000 Indianapolis 500, the only year he participated in the event. He became the first driver (since Graham Hill in 1966) to win at Indy on his first attempt.

Formula 1 career

Montoya made his Formula One debut for the BMW-powered Williams team on March 4, 2001 at the Australian Grand Prix. Less than a month later, he shocked Michael Schumacher — and the F1 world — in Brazil by overtaking the World Champion on a daring move. Montoya was on course to win the race when he collided with a backmarker. In his first season in F1 Montoya established himself as a favourite with fans and commentators as a natural racer. Although Williams struggled with reliability that year, Montoya nevertheless won three pole positions, stood on several podiums, and claimed his maiden F1 victory at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

In 2002, Montoya had the best year of any driver -- except, of course, for Ferrari teammates Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, who dominated the season by winning 15 of 17 races. But Montoya's star shone brighter than the rest of the pack, as he claimed third place in the drivers championship. More noticeably, he won a breathtaking seven pole positions that year, despite Ferrari's dominance. In 2002, qualifying was still conducted using the former 12-lap format, and Montoya would repeatedly stun the paddock by snatching pole from the scarlet team on his last flying lap, often with minutes or seconds to spare.

In 2003, he added the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix on the famed street circuit to his victory list, as well as the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. Montoya was a championship contender in one of the most closely contested campaigns in years, eventually finishing third behind Schumacher and (future teammate) Kimi Räikkönen. His championship hopes remained alive until the penultimate round of the season at the 2003 USGP, where he collided with Barrichello and was penalized by the stewards and forced for a drive through penalty(no changing tyres or refuelling just drive in pit lane), dashing any remaining championship hope; he reportedly refused to speak to the media afterwards for several days.

2004 was a disappointing year for Montoya, as he struggled with a radically new front nose assembly and senior staff of the Williams team, not too keen on working with a driver that had already signed to drive with the competition for 2005. After early season promise faded, the Colombian was frequently left struggling to score points, but everything came together for him at the very last race for Williams when he won the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, his fourth career victory in Formula One. Because the race at Interlagos marked Montoya's last race with Williams, he went out on a high note with the team.

He started driving for the McLaren team in 2005, but after only the first two Grand Prix, he injured his shoulder while in Spain, taking himself out of contention for the Grand Prix of Bahrain and Imola. The official reason given for the shoulder injury was that he had injured himself whilst playing tennis; it has been rumored by some that the cause may have actually been something else, possibly a motorcycle accident. David Coulthard who Montoya had replaced at McLaren, suggested the driver's fitness was not up to standard. In practice for the Monaco Grand Prix Montoya was penalised by race stewards for causing an avoidable accident. At the Canadian Grand Prix Montoya was on course for a win when the safety car was deployed. As race leader at the time the safety car was deployed Montoya could have pitted and rejoined the race in the lead. The team failed to call him into the pits first and after refuelling Montoya was sent out under a red light in the pit lane exit leading to disqualification. After a non-start at the US Grand Prix Montoya was on track for a possible win at Magny-Cours when his suspension failed. At the British GP on July 10, 2005, Montoya achieved his first win for McLaren at Silverstone. Despite spinning in qualifying, he came from 20th on the grid to finish second in the German GP, then retired with a broken drive shaft whilst in the lead of the Hungarian GP. For the first ever Turkish GP, he was set for the second position and his first one-two result of the season right next to his teammate, but a flat-spotted tire forced him off the track on the penultimate lap, ruining his chances, and he finished third behind Alonso. However, recovered well during the Italian GP to take his second win with McLaren and also his second victory at the same circuit. He continued his well form and took his "first proper" pole for McLaren at the Belgian GP, however Antonio Pizzonia misread Montoya's driving line and ran into the back of his car with few laps left in the race. This ruined McLaren's chance at its first one-two finish of the season.

Formula 1 results

Championship qualifications

• 2001: 6th, 31 points, 1 win, 3 poles (Williams)
• 2002: 3rd, 50 points, 0 wins, 7 poles (Williams)
• 2003: 3rd, 82 points, 2 wins, 1 pole (Williams)
• 2004: 5th, 58 points, 1 win, 0 poles (Williams)
• 2005: 4th, 60 points, 3 wins, 1 pole (McLaren)

Podiums and wins

• 2001:
  • Spain 2nd
  • Europe 2nd
  • Italy 1st
  • Japan 2nd
• 2002:
  • Australia 2nd
  • Malaysia 2nd
  • Spain 2nd
  • Austria 3rd
  • Britain 3rd
  • Germany 2nd
  • Belgium 3rd
• 2003:
  • Australia 2nd
  • Monaco 1st
  • Canada 3rd
  • Europe 2nd
  • France 2nd
  • Britain 2nd
  • Germany 1st
  • Hungary 3rd
  • Italy 2nd
• 2004:
  • Malaysia 2nd
  • Imola 3rd
  • Brazil 1st
• 2005:
  • Britain 1st
  • Germany 2nd
  • Turkey 3rd
  • Italy 1st
  • Brazil 1st

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