Do you think that Formula One has become too focused on strategy and not enough about racing?

Juan Pablo Montoya: I couldn’t really say that Formula One is more about strategy than racing – I would say that if you don’t race then the strategy doesn’t even come into account. You’ve got to race, you’ve got to be competitive. Strategy is important when you’re fighting for position so I think that the first thing you have got to be is competitive before strategy. I think at the level we are now, strategy can make the last little bit of difference.

Do you think that another big factor is about the psychology, about being strong enough mentally to go out there and beat champions on the circuit?

Juan Pablo Montoya: I think, to be honest, in Formula One you need to be very strong mentally. The mental edge in Formula One is the most important thing because I think that everyone who gets into Formula One has got the speed, got the talent to be in it, and how mentally strong you are can make a big difference – especially if you’re strong and you’re having problems, you can come out of the problems a lot easier.

Racing cars side by side – you know the cars are pretty much set up. How important is the role of the driver in holding your own out on the circuit?

Juan Pablo Montoya: The car is never perfect, especially in a race - it’s never going to be perfect – as you’re going to new tyres from really old tyres, different fuel loads and so on, so the car is always going to have a peak and you’ve always got to see how you’ve set up the car to get the peak at the optimum time. It is quite difficult. You’ve got to make the best of what you’ve got.

Do you need to be very close to the car in front to overtake? Does it spoil your drive if you’re that close?

Juan Pablo Montoya: No, I think that the problem is with the car. With the way that aerodynamics work, you can’t really get close enough to the cars – as soon as you get close to the car in front you’re going to lose all the downforce of your car and drop back so, overtaking is nearly impossible.

Would you ever go and drive for a team where there are team orders?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Yes, well every team has got team orders, you know sooner or later they are going to have to play them, and that’s part of it….

Do you accept that?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Yep, that’s part of racing

Have you ever been in any form of racing where team orders have applied?

Juan Pablo Montoya: I’ve never been given team orders to be honest. You know if you have a problem or something then they might ask you to move, that’s it. In Monaco for example you know they didn’t even tell me anything and my car was about to stop, and I wouldn’t have gained anything by slowing down Ralf.


What’s the role of your engineer over the race weekend?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Well the role of my engineer is very important because it’s the way we can make a difference to my driving style. You’ve got computers, telemetry - all kinds of information and everything. I think it’s very important because you’ve got to learn to use all that information in the right way, because it’s a bunch of numbers and graphs but you’ve got to understand what they mean. If I get an understeer in a corner you’ve got to look and understand everything – why is the understeer there? There is a Data Engineer there as well and you’ve got to understand all that. They would say if you’ve got understeer here this could be the problem or that could be the problem, that’s why you’ve got to work together with everybody.

Do you use your telemetry yourself or do you rely on your engineers to tell you what’s going on?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Well I know how to use it – I use it sometimes, but I mainly use it to compare myself to Ralf, or Marc or Antonio

…and that’s useful is it?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Yeah, useful because you can see where you’re slow or you’re quicker and where you can improve

So when you’ve looked at the telemetry and chatted to your race engineer and data engineer, who has the final say on the cars set up - or is it a real team effort?

Juan Pablo Montoya: It’s a team effort, you know sometimes I overrule him, sometimes he overrules me – that’s part of it, you know. As time goes on I think my race engineer understands me better, what I want from the car, what I need from the car and it makes life a lot easier, because if I say I have got oversteer at high speed he knows the thing to change is this or that.

Do you have a favourite race?

Juan Pablo Montoya: There are three or four tracks that are really nice to drive on. Malaysia, Suzuka and Spa are really good ones.

Do you think you can be World Champion?

Juan Pablo Montoya: I think World Champion is a big deal – I don’t really think about it. If some day I am World Champion then that will be brilliant. If I am not, then hey, these things happen.

Have you already achieved what you wanted to achieve when you were a little boy carting?

Juan Pablo Montoya: I think I've achieved more. I mean, when I was a little kid I watched Formula One on TV and I though "wow". But it changes. It's a bit of a shame but I drive the car every week, I work with the team, I see the car every day - it's part of my life. That's not to say that I don't love it - I love what I do, pushing the car to its limits and everything, but it's gone from being the passion of a little kid to my job. It's hard to think that way because I know that Formula One is a sport to watch, and people enjoy watching, and it's their passion - but for the drivers it's their job and it's the jobs of the other people in the team.

What makes you go 'wow' now?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Fast corners still. Oh yeah.

Do you think Formula One is still a sport?

Juan Pablo Montoya: Formula One is still a sport and it’s a serious sport – probably one of the most demanding sports if not the most demanding sport. If you’re swimming, then the strongest swimmer is going to win – here it takes a team – there’s engine, car, tyres, and behind that 700 people working on the cars, building, creating the cars – the way everything is built around – it’s amazing.

If everyone was given the same car what do you think the results would be?

Juan Pablo Montoya: That’s a good question…even if you had the same car you are going to have to modify the car for their liking – and whoever does the best job is going to be ahead. You know it’s like when Ralf works – we’re both very similar drivers, we both push the car to its limits, and whoever is most comfortable with the car is going to go quicker – that’s the way it works.
 

Interview with Juan Pablo Montoya c/- WilliamsF1