A Bumpy Start: interview with Juan Pablo Montoya

Not surprisingly, this year all eyes were on the contest between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, but one of the most fascinating aspects of 2005 was surely Juan Pablo Montoya's rollercoaster first season at McLaren.

We'll leave him to detail some of the ups and downs, suffice to say that in between the odd victory he had a more than a few bizarre incidents, including two tangles with backmarkers, a crash at the last corner of a qualifying lap while heading for pole, and even a collision with an errant drainage grid. Then there was the red mist that saw him jump the pitlane exit light in Canada, the road rage penalty in Monaco, and of course the strange story of the tennis accident that forced him out for two races.

His overall experience was a reminder that, even for the most talented, it's never easy to step into another team alongside a driver of (at least) equal ability who has been there for years. It was very much a similar experience for Giancarlo Fisichella at Renault, and he already knew most of the people. But by the end of the season it was clear that Montoya had found his feet, and was able to provide a more consistent challenge to title chaser Raikkonen.

Against expectations, the Colombian also fitted in well at McLaren, in the face of a culture that has not always favoured every driver. But JPM was no Nigel Mansell, and after a bit of give and take on both sides, it began to look like he'd been there for years. He was helped in part by Kimi's own situation. The Finn's much-publicised brushes with the tabloids did not go down too well, and rumours about his supposed departure to Ferrari didn't help. Kimi is no Mika Hakkinen.

Despite Raikkonen's awesome performance on the track, that created an opportunity for Juan Pablo to forge a closer bond with the management than might have been thought possible. That in turn helped him get away with some on-track scrapes that proved costly in the constructors' battle, and might otherwise have done serious harm to his McLaren career.

In fact, there's a distinct impression that he's quickly built himself into a strong position vis a vis, his teammate, and although McLaren rightly insist that their drivers are treated equally, any advantage, psychological or otherwise, is worth having.

For 2006, all bets are off. If Montoya can take advantage of the knowledge he gained last year, find some luck, and get off to a better start, Juan Pablo has as much chance as Kimi of emerging as the team's title challenger. If the package is good enough, of course...

Q: Your first year with McLaren, lots of ups and downs. How would you summarise it overall?

Montoya: "The first two races went OK, although I wasn't very comfortable in the car. Then I broke my shoulder and missed two races. When I came back in Spain it was really hard. My mind wasn't completely set yet in the way to drive a McLaren, so when I came back it was a bit of a shock. I still wasn't comfortable with the car, and the first day I shunted the car. If things had gone well in the race I would have made the podium, but the refuelling rig failed. Everything just kept adding up.

"I go to Monaco and I get blamed for something in practice and I'm not even in the image. Honestly, when you look at the TV when they crashed I'm not in the shot! Things like that just kept happening.

"Nurburgring I could have won, but Webber braked too late and ripped half my car off. At the next race in Canada I'm leading and the team forgets to call me in. Here we go again. Next one was Indy, and we don't race. Then it's Magny-Cours. Finally we're looking good for a podium, and the car breaks down!"

Q: But you did score some points in those early races...

Montoya: "I scored sevenths and things like that coming from the back, but having bad results brings you bad results at the next race because your qualifying position is compromised and everything. The next race after Magny-Cours was Silverstone. It was the first race when nothing went wrong, and I won the race! It was nice to win one and get the first one out of the way.

"After that I was quick, but I was pretty much out of the championship. The next one in Germany I made a mistake in qualifying... but even then I finished second. I was winning in Budapest and the car broke down. At the next race in Turkey I get taken off by a backmarker, [Tiago] Monteiro, when I'm running second."

Q: It was an amazing year one way or another

Montoya: "It was amazing, but frustrating, because I could have been on the podium at nearly every race, but something has always gone wrong and done damage to us. You look at the ups and downs, but I think we kept working with the team, and I put a lot of effort into the car, mainly to develop it and adjust myself more to the car and the car more to myself.

"I won in Monza. Then I put it on pole at Spa and should have won the race but I pretty much let Kimi by through the strategy. I was going to let Kimi win the race because it was the best thing for the team. Then [Antonio] Pizzonia came out of the pits and runs into the back of me, and it screws my qualifying for Brazil!"

Q: By then things seemed to be getting better

Montoya: "Things are turning around, and I'm starting to understand how things work in the team. I think the relationship with Ron has improved a lot, and I think that's very important. You know, Ron is a strange guy. Not in a bad way, but he's a guy that wants perfection, and looks for perfection in everything. I'm a Latin, I'm a little bit on the other side! It's good, I think we can compliment each other in a lot of ways."

Q: Ron said that after Ayrton Senna, he knows how to deal with Latin drivers

Montoya: "Nah! I think I'm a little bit more extreme than that!"

Q: Do you think people underestimate how difficult it is to come into a team when the other guy has already been there for a few years?

Montoya: "Going to a team where the other guy's been there for a few years, I don't care. If the car was easy to drive for my driving style, I wouldn't care. But we went through three different front geometries this year, just to adapt to my driving style, and at the same time we were changing the car, and it was going quicker and quicker.

"I think I had a lot of input into how to make the car better. We changed a lot of things in the car, the way we set it up, the way we balanced it, and generally it has helped one, the pace of the team and two, myself. But at the same time I think it's good because we changed the car a lot for my driving style."

Q: Apart from that, you had to understand the team, understand Ron...

Montoya: "At the beginning it was hard. I was used to Frank [Williams], dear old Frank. And Ron is a bit... he wants to be in control and have knowledge of everything sometimes, and it's very difficult to know everything. He really wants to help the whole time, but sometimes when you're not used to it, it makes more harm than good."

Q: Were there races where he gave you a hard time?

Montoya: 'No, no, he's been very supportive, generally speaking. We have good chats. If he would come and tell me off, I would go and do... But he never really told me off. It's not about damaging the image; it's about building the character. In a way he looks for a way to make you a better driver."

Q: How frustrating was your injury and being out of the car for a month?

Montoya: "I was starting to get the hang of the car, the way it was, even if it was very hard to drive. I was starting to understand the car a bit. We did a lot of work for Bahrain, and I thought we were looking really good for that."

Q: And you weren't there!

Montoya: "Yeah. I spent over a day in the simulator just working on Bahrain. I was pretty comfortable that when we got there we were going to have a great car."

Q: What was the biggest disappointment this year?

Montoya: "I think the worst has been [crashing with] Monteiro [in Turkey]. If he had just one mistake with me, but he did the same thing with Jacques, and Trulli. You've got to learn from your mistakes. I think that's been the most annoying thing.

"I understand Pizzonia [in Spa], he was in a tough position because he wanted to prove himself, he wanted to go out and do a great lap time. He needed to maximise the new tyres and everything. Sadly enough he did make a mistake, he underestimate the damp, he miscalculated everything, and it cost him and it cost me and the team.

"But he's a guy that gets out of the car and would go and say sorry. Monteiro would get out of the car and say, 'He's crazy!' You know what I mean? You're being lapped, you need to get out of the fucking way."

Q: What were the other frustrating ones? I'm guessing Nurburgring, where you should have won...

Montoya: "Yeah, Nurburgring I could have won. There's a lot of them, but I don't care. I made mistakes, the team made mistakes, but I think the most important thing is that we've been supporting each other."

Q: Are you a lot happier now than you were last year in your old team?

Montoya: "Last year I'd been there for four years, I knew how everything worked. It was a lot easier. Now things are starting to click in by themselves, and when things start to click in by themselves, the performance starts coming along."

Q: In the last part of the season you were trying to help or support Kimi. Was that hard?

Montoya: "Those last few races were hard, especially because I was quick. I've been in a position where I could beat Kimi, and win the race, and when you start the race and you know you're going to support your team... I'm not doing it for Kimi, I'm doing it for Ron. In a way, if it goes the other way around, Kimi's going to have to be there for me as well. What goes around comes around."

Q: We know Kimi is never going to be a big friend and you won't be going out drinking with him. What's your relationship like?

Montoya: "I would get drunk too easy, to be honest, if I was to party with him! It would a bit unfair. It would be a bit like going out drinking with my wife. I would get lapped..."

At this point the nearby Connie looked up from her magazine, and a few words of Spanish were exchanged...

Q: What's it been like with the two of you? You're obviously different characters...

Montoya: "It's been good. We're different characters, but if you look at the things with Ralf [Schumacher] at the moment, I get on with Ralf really good. I don't have problems with Kimi, but for example at the beginning of the year when things for him were a lot easier against me, it was a lot more relaxed relationship. Now that I'm getting quicker and quicker, you see the things changing a little bit. But we get on really good."

Q: Is it better to have a quick teammate? For example, when Ralf was injured, you didn't...

Montoya: "It's always good to have a quick guy beside you, because it makes you work hard, and it makes sure that you get the maximum out of the car the whole time.'"

Q: What did you think of the battle between Alonso and Raikkonen this year - has it been good for F1?

Montoya: "This year's championship has been something different, but it's been pretty straightforward for Alonso, to be honest. We've been quick, but Alonso was a lot quicker than us at the beginning of the year, and that's where he made the difference."

Q: Were you amused to see Michael Schumacher struggling?

Montoya: "I don't think it was Michael struggling, I think it was back to reality. People were putting Michael so high, Michael's perfection of driving and training and that press bullshit. It puts it into perspective. You have a good car, and a good package, you're going to win. You don't, you're not going to win, it's that straightforward in this sport."

Q: He's human...

Montoya: "He's human like everybody else. He's good - I'm not going to say he's not good, I think he's a great driver. I think the Ferrari team did a great job over the past few years. But people were forgetting that it takes a team to win. Everybody thought it's Michael, just Michael. So what happened - did Michael fall asleep this year? The thing is, the last few years he had a better tyre than us."

Q: You mentioned the team. How good is McLaren, now that you've had a season to get to know them?

Montoya: "I think Williams was a great team when I was there, and we had great things. This is a completely different team, the way it is run and things, but it's amazing as well. I've had a great time here, and the more time that I spend here, the more I enjoy it."

Q: Any idea about next year and the V8?

Montoya: "I'm going to miss the power. One of the things, when I came into F1 five years ago, was the lack of power of an F1 engine. We've got over 100bhp more than when I came in, but Jesus Christ, it was blah, blah, blah down the straight. A Champcar had more power than what we've got at the moment."

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