Meet the driver whose only podium came alongside Michael Schumacher in one of F1’s most controversial races

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For newer fans of Formula 1, the 2021 title decider in Abu Dhabi may be the most controversial incident they’ve ever witnessed in the sport.

Max Verstappen and George Russell’s feud seems out of character for the sport, when in actual fact, the grid is closer now than it ever has been.

Michael Schumacher had collisions – twice – during the final races of the season when the championship was on the line, succeeding once against Damon Hill before failing to stop Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna’s clashes are legendary, but F1 controversies didn’t just exist between drivers.

One event – the 2005 United States Grand Prix – is remembered for all the wrong reasons.

It did what was expected to be irreversible damage to the reputation of Formula 1 in the USA, although the sport’s current owners Liberty Media have done a fantastic job of moving past this particular race.

And while it caused plenty of issues, one driver – Jordan’s Portuguese racer Tiago Monteiro – was arguably the only beneficiary.

Michelin’s tyre failures at the 2005 United States Grand Prix including Ralf Schumacher’s huge crash

The 2005 season is remembered for Schumacher’s five-year run as Formula 1 champion being ended by Fernando Alonso.

The ninth race of the season was held at Indianapolis, with Alonso already having a 22-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen, with Schumacher fifth in the championship.

During Friday’s practice session, Schumacher’s brother Ralf had a huge crash at the final corner due to a left-rear tyre failure, ruling him out of the rest of the weekend. However, his replacement – Ricardo Zonta – then suffered a similar failure.

This was during a time when the grid didn’t all run on the same tyres, with Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota using Michelin compounds.

READ MORE: Martin Brundle shares the reason why Michael Schumacher didn’t speak to him for five years

Michelin couldn’t understand the problem and seven of its customer teams, including Alonso’s Renault outfit, had suffered similar problems.

New tyres couldn’t be flown in and suggestions to slow the cars down before the banked Turn 13 with a chicane were thrown out, leading to an uncomfortable solution that was set to benefit the only three teams that used Bridgestone tyres – Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi.

How Tiago Monteiro ended up on the podium alongside Michael Schumacher

On Sunday, all 20 cars lined up on the grid, with Schumacher and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello fifth and seventh respectively.

The formation lap started but before returning to the grid, all 14 Michelin returned to the pits, leaving just six cars on the grid.

Five rows back from Barrichello, Monteiro’s Jordan lined up alongside Minardi driver Christijan Albers, with the second Jordan of Narain Karthikeyan in 19th ahead of Patrick Friesacher.

READ MORE: Eddie Jordan admits 90-race Formula 1 driver ‘crashed at every given moment’

The race began, with the two Ferraris already significantly ahead of the four cars desperate fighting for the unlikeliest of chances to finish on the podium, so much so, that they nearly collided going into the first corner.

Monteiro and Karthikeyan finished a lap behind the Ferraris – Schumacher leading Barrichello home by 1.5 seconds – with the Minardis a lap further down.

It was Monteiro’s only F1 podium and the last time a Portuguese driver has featured in the top three of a Formula 1 race, and in Jordan’s final season before being taken over by Midland, it was their 19th and final visit to the rostrum.

Schumacher and Barrichello looked embarrassed standing in front of a sparse and far from impressed Indianapolis crowd, but Monteiro was delighted to have achieved such a feat in his debut F1 season.

Who was Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro?

Tiago Monteiro was born on 24 July 1976 in Porto, Portugal but started his junior racing career in France.

He finished second in the 2000 and 2001 French Formula 3 Championship, finishing runner-up to Japanese driver Ryo Fukuda before progressing to the International Formula 3000 series.

By 2004, Monteiro was a test driver for Minardi alongside racing in the World Series by Nissan, again finishing second, on this occasion to future McLaren and Lotus F1 star Heikki Kovalainen.

Monteiro made his F1 debut in 2005 with Jordan and alongside his remarkable podium finish at Indianapolis, he scored his only other point at the Belgian Grand Prix, which turned out to be the team’s final points-scoring finish.

Monteiro finished 16th in the championship and was retained by the newly-formed Midland F1 team for 2006.

Unfortunately, he and new teammate Albers endured a pointless season and Monteiro wasn’t retained for 2007.

The Portuguese went on to have a successful career in touring cars, winning several 24 Hour events at the Nurburgring, while also briefly owning a GP2 team.

Jordan compared recruiting Monteiro and Karthikeyan to when he gave Hill and Senna their first chances, via Autosport, and while it didn’t pan out that way for the 48-year-old, his name will always exist in the F1 history books.