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Montoya has a tip for young drivers: 'This is the way to go'
- Ludo van Denderen
Juan Pablo Montoya had a rich Formula 1 career. Getting into Formula 1, however, was anything but a foregone conclusion. Having trained mostly in European racing classes, Montoya decided to race in America. European-based F1 teams hardly look at drivers across the ocean, making their chances in the top class slim. Montoya, winner of seven Grands Prix, was an exception. Therefore, the former driver has a tip for all young drivers who dream of Formula 1: Choose the European way.
"If you want to do open wheel anywhere in the world, it's important to come through Europe. I think the maturity and the level is a lot higher and if you can run well here and be competitive, it means you can run well anywhere," Montoya said in a conversation with GPblog.
Montoya sees two options
So Juan Pablo Montoya himself came to Formula 1 via CART. His son Sebastián (19) has a dream of reaching Formula 1 and he is doing so through, first of all, Formula 3. In that, the Colombian - born in Miami, USA - has been competing since this year. A conscious choice, says his father. "There's two options. You either perform really well and you got an opportunity in F1 or you don't perform enough and you have to look at something else.
But, he says, there is so much competition in Europe that it is never certain you will make it to F1. "Even if you perform really well, and the opportunity is not there then you have to look at something else. At some point that decision is going to be made. It's either going to be made by us or by somebody else. Somebody is going to come to us and offer something, and then that decision is going to be kind of self-made."
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton