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Juan Pablo Montoya says he never bought into the allure of the Ferrari team when he was racing in Formula 1.
Six F1 drivers have won four or more world championships, and five of them have raced for Ferrari during their careers, with Max Verstappen the only exception. That speaks to the team’s unique appeal.
Ferrari are the oldest and most successful team on the grid with 31 titles overall, eight more than second-place McLaren. Outside of F1, they are one of the world’s most prestigious brands.
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Juan Pablo Montoya: I turned down the chance to race for Ferrari
Speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast, Montoya said that Charles Leclerc viewed Ferrari as the ‘golden team’.
“The crazy thing is, when I was in F1 and I looked at Ferrari, I never looked at it that way,” he said.
The Colombian then revealed that former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn was keen to sign him, but he rebuffed the approach. Even his Williams team thought he was ‘crazy’ for doing so.
Montoya, who made his debut in 2001, finished third in the standings twice while driving for Williams during Michael Schumacher’s era of dominance. He didn’t want to receive ‘second-tier’ treatment alongside the German.
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He said: “Ross Brawn once came to me and said, ‘We would love it if you raced for us.’
“I said, ‘No thank you.’ I came to the Williams meeting after the race at Monza and told my engineers.
“They all looked at me like, ‘Oh my god, are you crazy?’
“I didn’t want to have Michael as a teammate, because I didn’t want to be a second-tier driver.”
Why Max Verstappen may never race for Ferrari – even if he stays in F1
Will Verstappen complete the aforementioned list by joining Ferrari? It’s possible, particularly if he decides to leave a Red Bull team who currently appear to be fourth in the pecking order.
But the move is still unlikely, and not just because Verstappen isn’t yet committed to F1 long-term.
Back in 2019, Verstappen heavily implied Ferrari were breaking the rules with their engine, comments that didn’t go down well at Maranello. He would be expected to ‘backtrack’ on those remarks, but he is famously strong-willed.
More importantly, a report just last month stated that Verstappen has ‘always been sceptical’ about joining Ferrari given that they haven’t won a title since 2008. He doubts they could guarantee sustained success.
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