After 14 races, 10 retirements and two second places, there he was. Juan Pablo.
That day, on September 16, 2001There was no chance that his car’s engine would have trouble, the clutch would fail, or some crash would torpedo success.
It didn’t matter that the 150,000 tifosi that invaded the Monza National Autodrome gathered all their strength so that Ferrari would stay with the victory.
Although they made a dent, neither the anxiety of the attack on the Twin Towers, which had occurred five days ago, nor the reserved prognosis of his former CART partner, Alex Zanardi, who suffered a serious accident at EuroSpeedway the day before, could not be an impediment.
Like every hero on his journey, despite the challenges, Montoya had how to put his strengths at the service of destiny. And history witnessed the way she did it.
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An hour, 16 minutes, 58 seconds and 493 thousandths of brilliant handling with an ingenious strategy led the Bogotan, four days after his 26th birthday, and in the middle of his father’s birthday, to climb into the highest drawer in the Italian Grand Prixjust as his great reference, the Brazilian Ayrton Senna, did in 1990 and 1992.
The Colombian anthem and flag took over a Formula 1 stage for the first time.
It was “the day of unfading glory”, as José Clopatofsky wrote in these pages.
Juan Pablo Montoya’s smile represented the satisfaction of a people who saw how one of their own triumphed in the highest category of motorsports.
And although the pilot’s gestures could only convey joy, internally his feeling was one of “relief”.
This is what he assures in a race to the past, in which EL TIEMPO acts as co-pilot.
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no surprise
Montoya’s first victory in Formula 1 was far from surprising his team.
Until that day, Juan Pablo had the weight of having been Formula 3000 champion, Cart champion and winner of the legendary Indianapolis 500 on his back.
On his arrival at the big top, that 2001, the European media paid more attention to the debut of the Spanish Fernando Alonso and the Finnish Kimi Räikkönen, but he, so clear in his purpose, knew what the game was about.
“I came to Formula 1 to win, not to be part of the procession”he said at the time.
Looking back at that first season, the Brazilian Grand Prix appears in Montoya’s memory, in which an attack by the Dutchman Jos Verstappen on lap 33 frustrated his intentions after an anthology past Michael Schumacher, and the Grand Prix of Germany, in which certain engine problems forced him to retire when he was leading the race.
“Until that Monza day, we had been very close, really. The car had not helped on several occasions. That time of the engine in Germany, screwed up in the tanking, was very rough. Things had happened… –Montoya recalls before giving the green flag to the memory of the expected day–. But then he saw the victory and we breathed.”
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Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber; Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams; Fernando Alonso, Minardi; and Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows; Melbourne, 2001. Photo: Clive Mason/Allsport #F1 pic.twitter.com/zYsgWB1xtp
– Neto Demetriou (@NetoDemetriou) September 14, 2022
the longed for day
To the surprise of those who followed Montoya’s first win in Formula 1, The feat began in the most unexpected way: with an accident.
“People don’t know, but that day I crashed in the morning arriving at the racetrack. My wife doesn’t remember (laughs), but that was at a round point that was getting there. Before entering the roundabout, I saw that no one was coming and I assumed that a man who was ahead had started and, well, no. We went there to give…”Juan Pablo confesses to this newspaper.
The pilot says, very much in his own style, that the crash was far from affecting him because he was focused on the race. Then, on the racetrack, in the Williams uniform, his purpose was to make his third pole position effective and achieve victory on a circuit that matched his style of driving down the long straights.
However, things did not start in the best way.
Late in lap eight, Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello, a latent threat, managed to pass Montoya after he failed to brake in a corner.
And for more pressure, the Bogota native was left between the Brazilian and Michael Schumacher, the anticipated champion.
“I damaged one of the rear tires by skidding too much and that’s when Rubens passed me,” explains Montoya, who resisted Schumacher’s attacks.
with the walk, the tire stabilized and Juan Pablo was able to continue his course.
On lap 18, Schumacher pitted and the Bogota native breathed. Then it was Barrichello’s turn, who with a slow stop of 16.3 seconds allowed Montoya to retake the lead. On lap 29, it was Juan Pablo’s turn to stop, who, when he recovered, was third, behind the Schumacher brothers.
Ralf, with whom he shared rows at Williams, pitted around lap 36. Michael, out of gas, made his second stop afterwards. And then, the turn, with 13 laps to go, went to Barrichello, who gave up 6.4 seconds in his stop to refuel.
At that point, two races, the one that was seen on the circuit and the one that Montoya lived in his head.
“The story was complicated because the Michelin tires that we brought were very fast at the beginning of the race, but at the end they left a lot. Rubens was very close, but we had enough speed to win. He was catching up with us, yes, but in the end, I was calculating in my head the tenths that I was taking off per lap and the ones that were left. He repeated to me: ‘We’re fine, we’re fine’ ”John Paul recalls.
After defending the difference came the image that Colombia recorded: Montoya raising his fist from his vehicle after having driven ‘a lo berraco’, as Germán Mejía narrated, and the remembered climb to the podium.
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A celebration that, in the public, his girlfriend (now wife), Connie Freydell, and his birthday dad, Pablo, lived to the surface.
“The victory was very special. but more than happiness what I felt was relief. We finally won, but it was a very strange week, the 9/11 thing, the Zanardi thing, my dad had his birthday, that same day, but a year ago I had won my last race in Cart, I already had the ring to get engaged to Connie in three days… there were many things”, admits Montoya.
In the end, the anthem sounded, the flag was raised and Juan Pablo, in the midst of the long face of his teammate Ralf, celebrated having pulled through a difficult day in which there was generally little reason for the rest of the world to celebrate. That’s why, the traditional bottle of champagne was not opened. And 21 years later it is still intact.
“I think it is the only Formula 1 bottle that has not been opened. That day I signed it and kept it. Over time I wrapped it up and I have it at home, back in Miami, in the garage, with all the memories of the races”John Paul explains.
There is Montoya for a while
After that victory, Montoya achieved six more wins in F-1 and came third in the world championships in 2003 and 2004. In that race, Monza retains a special place.
“That victory in 2001 was a very special beginning for me. for everything you mentioned. Monza gave me a lot of things, then I went and won there with McLaren, I did three poles, I set the record for the fastest lap that Hamilton beat in 2018…, we have had everything there, ”acknowledges Juan Pablo.
Regarding the next Colombian to obtain a victory in Formula 1, Juan Pablo says he has the right one: Sebastián, his son.
“Sebas is doing things very well. With the support of Claro and all of its sponsors, we are working on something very good for next year. What is coming for him is fantastic and we will surely see a Montoya winning again,” says Juan Pablo, whose birthday is on September 20. He dates that, with his father’s background, is worth considering for Sebastian’s future. It remains to be seen if the calendar gives wait.
(2023 is clear: Sebastián Montoya goes for everything: ‘Next year I hope to be in Formula 3’).
The best thing that Montoya’s son can have in this life is precisely to have a great man like Juan Pablo Montoya as a father (just as he had a great person like Mr. Montoya as a father). pic.twitter.com/oLi2uRibQt
— St. John W 🇨🇭 (@TheReaIJohn) February 1, 2022
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