Well having had a look to see if he had his own thread i thought that Montoya is long over due one. Juan Pablo Montoya divided alot of F1 fans opinions of him. Some thought he was a bit of a dill and others thought he was quite cool. Myself i thought he was a man with a big ego with bags of talent but never let it out. Montoya entered F1 in 2001 replacing Jenson Button at BMW Williams and partnered Ralf Schumacher for 4 years before moving to Mclaren in 2005 to join Kimi Raikkonen at the team. Montoya announced himself to the F1 world with a sensational move on the Legendary Michael Schumacher at turn one in Brazil 2001. But his F1 career didn't get off to the best of starts, he retired from his first two races. However at the Brazilian GP we were about to crown Montoya with his first F1 race win until Jos Verstappen's Arrows took him out of the race whilst in the lead. Montoya did eventually score his first points in the 5th Round at The Spanish GP finishing a brilliant second behind Michael Schumacher. 2001 was a mixed year for Montoya, he only managed to finish 6 races, claiming 3 Poles and 4 podiums which included his maiden Grand Prix Victory at Monza. In 2002 Montoya was mainly the best of the rest his Williams team car was never able to match the Dominance of the Ferrari team. He matched them on a few occasions but Ferrari won 15 of the 17 GP's that year. However Montoya did manage to get 7 Pole Positions. In 2003, this was the year when we saw a very good championship battle between Montoya, Raikkonen and Schumacher. Montoya finished third in the Championship having falling out of the Championship race with one race to go. Montoya did however win the race that most F1 drivers would love to win the 2003 Monaco GP. In 2004, Williams just lacked the pace of the Ferrari's and Mclaren's. After much promise in the early stages of the season but that promise faded. However at the Last race of the season Montoya won a closely fought battle with Mclaren's Kimi Raikkonen to win the Brazilian GP and sign off his Williams career in style. In 2005, Montoya moved to Mclaren Mercedes to Partner Kimi Raikkonen. He finished his debut race finishing 6th and scoring his first points at Mclaren. Montoya then had a mysterious shoulder injury caused by coming off a motorbike. However at the time we were all told it was an injury from a game of tennis. Montoya then went on to claim his first victory for Mclaren at the British GP, he profitted from his teammates bad luck. Montoya went on to win 2 more races that year in Italy and Brazil to finish 4th in the championship. In 2006, Montoya had a decent start to the year in a car that wasn't great at all. Montoya finished a best placed 2nd at the Monaco grand prix. However Montoya's year was about to turn into a nightmare. At the United States Grand Prix he caused a multiple pile-up and took out a number of drivers including his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. After that Montoya was immediately given the sack and was replaced by Pedro De La Rosa for the rest of the season. Montoya had his good moments but he had many bad and really should have been in F1 longer than he was. But in his short spell in F1 he brought some much needed personality.
I like Montoya, the "eeedeeeot!", but not sure he had the right temperament for F1. His fitness wasn't great, he had a big ego, a very big one, don't think he was mentally strong either. If he sorted himself out, he could have been a World Champion. The "politics" of F1 got too him a bit too much aswell, which falls into the category of "not mentally strong enough". He made several mistakes aswell when in good positions, more so than others. With the loss of Montoya and Schumacher in 2006, the F1 paddock looked quite weak going into 2007. He brought in some great moments though, on-track and off-track!
Actually thought that Montoya was going to take the fight to Michael Schumacher when he arrived on the scene in 2001.
To state that someone in F1 has a big ego is like saying that water is wet. You can't get that far up the chain without having a huge ego.
Loved him! He was my man before Lewis. Miss him lots.Special loved it when he beat Schumacher I like this vid.
Strictly in a racing sense, he was all brawn and no brain. Very good to watch, but in terms of results, not much in it between him and Ralf.
Inbetween the departure of Hakkinen and the arrival of Hamilton he was my 2nd favourite driver behind Kimi Raikkonen. There was no doubting he had the speed, he also had plenty of spirit and wasn't afraid to mix it up with dominating german. I'd like to see him do a year of GP2 then come back and give Vettel some trouble
Looking back, it is difficult to remember how close he really was to winning the title in 2003. He probably should have...
I loved JPM and had high hopes for him to do well - but that is true of a lot of drivers over the years. Many turned into journeymen, which is a shame as all started off as racers but, like JP, they had the speed/passion/self-belief but not the nous. Brains are very important in F1 and you can't always 'power' your way to success without them.
No, not stupid, per se - just incapable of playing the waiting game and, as a consequence, queering his own pitch. I loved his enthusiasm and speed and, very occasionally, his recklessness - ultimately none of it did him any good because he put no thought into what he was trying to achieve.
Overhyped, overweight and overated (and possibly psychotic). NASCAR is about his level, how he ever found his way into an F1 car is beyond my ken.
