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Montoya: "I didn't go to Ferrari because of Schumacher"
- GPblog.com
During the period that Michael Schumacher was at Ferrari, it was continuously clear that the German was the first driver within the team. In his F1 career Juan Pablo Montoya had the opportunity to drive alongside the German at Ferrari, he reveals at the Colombian Antena 2. He then refused, partly because of Schumacher's presence on the team.
"If Michael wasn't at Ferrari, I would certainly have considered the contract, because Ferrari is a great team", said the Colombian. "Then Schumacher was the clear number one and I didn't want to join as a second driver". The Colombian ended up driving for McLaren in that period, next to Kimi Raikkonen. In the end he didn't have a great connection with the Finn.
Not a good relationship with teammate
"There were no big problems, but it was very difficult to build a good relationship with Kimi. He doesn't open himself up very much. We had meetings and other commitments, but it was all very superficial between us". In the end Montoya drove six seasons in Formula 1, winning seven times and finishing third in the championship twice.
After the F1 years Montoya decided to go to America, for NASCAR. Bernie Ecclestone tried to keep Montoya in F1 at the time, he says. "When I left McLaren it was actually a closed book for me because there was nothing left in Formula 1 and that's why I signed with Chip Ganassi for five years. After that Bernie called me, but I quickly said I didn't want to go back to Europe", Montoya said.