Juan Pablo Montoya admits he ‘destroyed’ six-time F1 winner who was ‘really unreal’

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Juan Pablo Montoya was one of the fastest drivers at the start of the 21^st century in Formula 1.

It was a particularly competitive era of the sport and only Fernando Alonso is still on the grid from that time.

Speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast, Montoya explained how he got the better of one of the strongest drivers in the sport at that time.

Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya both made their Formula 1 debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix alongside future world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Arrows driver Enrique Bernoldi – who wasn’t Montoya’s biggest fan – was the fourth rookie that day, but it’s hard to argue there’s been a better cohort of new drivers at one time in the sport’s recent history.

They joined previous champions Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Jacques Villeneuve among a host of other top-tier drivers.

Montoya went on to win seven races during his Formula 1 career despite never being in the strongest car on the grid.

He did, however, have the opportunity to beat his teammates in the same car during his time at Williams and McLaren.

Montoya has now said that his first intra-team rival, Ralf Schumacher, was incredibly quick.

However, during their time together the Colombian driver eventually for the better of his counterpart.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

Juan Pablo Montoya explains how he ‘destroyed’ Ralf Schumacher

When Montoya arrived in Formula 1, he was already a very experienced racer.

He had been on several F1 team’s radars for a few years before eventually making the switch from CART in 2001.

Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 the year before and after Alex Zanardi’s failed switch to F1 had a point to prove in the sport.

He arrived at Williams greeted by Ralf Schumacher as his teammate and Montoya quickly set to work to try and assert himself as the number one driver in the team.

Schumacher already had three seasons of Formula 1 racing under his belt at Jordan and Williams and went on to earn three of his six career victories in Montoya’s debut season.

However, the Colombian ultimately eclipsed his win tally before spectacularly walking away from F1 halfway through the 2006 campaign.

Montoya very complimentary about Schumacher’s F1 career

Asked about Ralf Schumacher’s greatest strengths, Montoya said: “Honestly, Ralf [Schumacher] was so, so good.

“His speed, oh my god, he was so quick. He played with me for so long, it was so annoying, he was so hard and the things he could do with the car with one-lap pace, he was unreal.

“It was really unreal and so annoying and so frustrating to not be able to match him at the beginning.

“You know what the problem is, is that I destroyed him mentally. We never really talked, but nowadays with social media and everything, the teammates are best friends and they go to dinner together and they all go and play padel together.

“In my time, you didn’t talk to anybody! I used to talk to Fernando [Alonso] and still do and Rubens [Barrichello] and [Felipe] Massa sometimes and that was it.”

Juan Pablo Montoya never failed to entertain in Formula 1

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were unlucky to come up against a dominant Ferrari pairing of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and McLaren’s rapid line-up of Hakkinen and David Coulthard during the 2001 season.

Williams were always in the running during Montoya’s time with the team until his final season and he regularly started on pole and led races that he ultimately failed to win.

It made sense for McLaren to sign him as Coulthard’s replacement but Renault emerged as the strongest force in 2005 and he was second-best to new teammate Kimi Raikkonen for much of the season.

Montoya lasted just 10 races during the 2006 campaign before leaving to try his hand at NASCAR with McLaren the third-fastest constructor on the grid.

Inconsistency and reliability prevented Montoya from ever putting together a proper title challenge in Formula 1.

Seven pole positions in 2002 and two race wins in 2003 helped him earn back-to-back 3rd place finishes in the Drivers’ Championship, but Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari was simply unstoppable.

But he more than matched some of the best drivers in the sport’s recent memory.