In 1998, Montoya was the winner of the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship (Team Super Nova) with record points (65) and the stage was set. Victory in the 1999 CART Championship Series, becoming the CART Rookie of the Year with seven wins, seven pole positions and the honour of being the youngest champion in the history of the series were all simply steps along the way. All this (and more along the way) eventually culminated in a deal with BMW Williams in 2001 for the Formula 1 season. There are few drivers who can manage to earn points in their debut season leave alone win a race. Montoya was one of the few who won the Italian GP, finished in second place in Spanish, the European and Japanese GPs. Throughout his debut season in 2001, Montoya showed signs that he could rise as the next big champion in the world of Formula 1. And despite reliability issues with Williams, Montoya managed a respectable 6th place in the overall standings with 31 points. This also included the debut win. 2002 was a season that was Ferrari’s season. This meant that 15 of the 17 races were won by either Schumacher or Barrichello. Although Montoya could not win a race in 2002, he did manage seven podium finishes to aggregate 50 points and the third place in the overall championship standings. It was in the 2002 season, only his second in Formula 1 that he recorded the fastest ever lap in Formula 1 during the qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix. Montoya rates the race at the Hockenheim track as his best ever... “One of the best was the last race on the long Hockenheim track [in 2002, with BMW Williams]. I was really beating everybody, but I was frustrated that I didn’t win. We had a fuel rig failure, and the engine overheated in the pits and died. I really liked the long track, it was fun. I enjoy fast tracks and fast corners. It was nice two years later, on the new Hockenheim track, when I won and nearly lapped the whole field. The car felt like it did at any other race, but it seemed that everyone else was just going slower!” By 2003, it was clear that Montoya was a potential world champion. To ensure the best support and that there was a good chance for him to live up to potential, Williams built a car that was suited to Montoya’s driving style. The engine though needed time to be built and there were the ever-present reliability issues with BMW’s engines. Often times, though, the make up of a Formula 1 car is what ensures that the engine and other technical parts function as per design and to the best of their capability. Montoya could not manage this despite a winning start to the year and soon gained a reputation as someone who could not set up an F1 car. Furthermore, altercations with the team staff during a race and a penalty in the US Grand Prix saw his chances of a title evaporate as he finished the season in third place again, this time with 82 points. Along the way, he won the German and Monaco GP’s and was on the podium on seven other occasions. By the end of 2003, McLaren had announced they would sign up Montoya from 2005 and this put a strain on his relationship with the team at William throughout 2004. As a result, this was a far from satisfactory season. Montoya started the season well scoring points in three of the first four races and this included two podium finishes too. But the Williams was still running on the 2003 engine and soon, Montoya was struggling to even score points. But an overhaul to the car during the season did improve things only if marginally and saw Montoya finish the year and his partnership with Williams on a high by winning the Brazilian GP. He finished the year in 5th position with just 58 points. A new team brings with it new expectations and also new problems. Montoya was having a tough time adjusting to the McLarens and even said that at times, it felt as if the steering wheel was ‘not attached’ to the car! This, though, was the smallest of his worries. Montoya became the ‘almost man’ in 2005 when car failure or his own errors saw him lose races he should have won. Injury kept him out of two races and this didn’t help either. But his involvement in improving the car went a long way in helping not only McLaren, but also his team mate. As a result, he won the British GP and the Italian GP in Monza. But the relationship he enjoyed at McLaren wasn’t the best. Some moves and decisions by him on the track harmed team mate and title contender Kimi Raikkonen and this wasn’t taken too well by team boss Ron Dennis. But Montoya was always his own man and not one to be cowed down. Perhaps his statement on his own website about how easy or hard it was to adjust to McLaren sums it up best: “In some senses easier, in others a lot harder. I think working with the new engineers and mechanics has been pretty good. The way the team works is completely different to what I have been used to. Things I thought were going to be straightforward were not, and the things I thought were going to be complicated have been straightforward.” A fairly roundabout way of putting things, but then that’s the way it was! 2006 didn’t start as expected for Montoya. First the news that Fernando Alonso had been signed by McLaren came about and then it became known the McLaren had not taken up their option of retaining Montoya. After 10 races that saw as many retirements as finishes, Montoya announced (just after another retirement during the US GP) that he would race for the NASCAR series from 2007. Despite two podium finishes and 26 points, Montoya took the hard decision. He did not race for the rest of season when McLaren announced that he would stop racing with immediate effect. A promising career in F1 was brought to an abrupt halt. This year, Montoya would be racing in the NASCAR series and his place in the McLaren team would be taken up by Lewis Hamilton. About his future, Montoya is sure he won’t be involved in motor sports unless his son Sebastian wants him to be. “I probably won’t be involved with racing 30 years from now. That would be mad, to be honest. There is no way I’ll run a team. You work hard for your money, so why put it on the line? I don’t know what I’ll be doing 30 years from now, but I guarantee that I’ll stop this and take a break from racing! Maybe I’ll be involved if my son likes it, and I will try to help him. But I’ll probably have loads of toys, and I’ll keep playing around either in Colombia or in Miami.”