When Juan Pablo Montoya’s ‘most unfair’ penalty cost him the championship in Michael Schumacher battle

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Juan Pablo Montoya is regarded by many as a Formula 1 legend. But the Colombian could never get over the final hurdle and win a world championship.

Montoya had a rather unusual path to F1. Typically, drivers head over to America when their time in the pinnacle of motorsport comes to an end – but the 49-year-old did it the other way round.

Like Jacques Villeneuve, the Colombian won the CART series – the top class of American open-wheel racing at the time – before venturing into F1. Montoya made his debut in 2001 with Williams.

He grabbed one win and four podiums in his rookie season but was hampered by multiple retirements. In 2002, Montoya began to mount a championship challenge.

The 49-year-old won seven races and grabbed 30 podiums as he quickly became a fan favourite. Damon Hill would pay to see Montoya over Juan Manuel Fangio, labelling him a ‘brilliant’ driver.

Montoya established himself as one of Michael Schumacher’s closest competitors during his run of five consecutive titles in the early 2000s. He finished third in the standings in 2002 and 2003 as he could not end the dominance of the Ferrari.

Juan Manuel Montoya lost the 2004 championship with the ‘most unfair’ penalty at Indianapolis

After missing out on the title the year prior, Montoya went into 2004 looking to win the championship with Williams.

His season got off to a poor start with two podiums in the opening eight races. He was disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix for having illegal brake ducts.

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Montoya was disqualified again at the next round at Indianapolis in a controversial incident. His FW26 failed to start on the grid for the formation lap, forcing him to use the spare car in the garage.

However, as the lights turned green, the stewards said he was still on the track as his foot was on the side of the trackside net and was disqualified. Speaking on the AS Colombia YouTube channel, Montoya says this penalty cost him the championship in 2004.

“The most unfair of all was the one in 2004 in the United States when the car did not turn on at the grid and I had to go to the spare car.

“They gave me the fine because they said that when it turned green, it you look at a photo of the grid, my body has already passed but my foot and my shoe are still on the side from behind the trackside net.

“So as my foot is still on the side of the track then they said that I was not off the track.

“And I was disqualified from the race and we lost the world championship for that”.

Juan Pablo Montoya’s F1 career ended in 2006 with McLaren

The Colombian went on to finish the 2004 season in fifth as Schumacher grabbed his seventh and final world championship.

The following year, Montoya joined McLaren to partner Kimi Raikkonen. He continued to show his speed with three wins in 2005 but finished the season fourth in the standings, 52 points behind his teammate.

In 2006, the Colombian struggled with consistency as he suffered five retirements in the first 10 races – the last of those DNFs was the final straw for his F1 career.

Ironically, at Indianapolis, Montoya was involved in a multi-car collision which caused Nick Heidfeld to flip across the gravel. The 49-year-old was sacked by McLaren following the crash.

Montoya remains in the world of motorsport today as he watches over his son Sebastian Montoya’s career. He will embark on his debut season in F2 in 2025.