Essential Skills for Elite Drivers

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, You keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place, so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done Call one eight hundred Ganger, click ranger. com or just stop by Ranger for the ones who get it done Granger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park You're not managing one building. you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners Light's about to fail, filters ready to clog, H back on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering and twenty four seven support Call one eight hundred Granger, click Granger. com or just stop by Granger For the ones who get it done Sve more on what you need to get the job done right. Right now, at Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, select custom entry and interior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars under the Walp twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Lowe's Pro desk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo or even a sticky note is all you need Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget at lows. Vllid through sevenenty eight, while supplies last. Selection varies by location To race in Formula one, you have to be fast, but it takes more than that. You also have to be in the right place, the right team, the right racing category, and all at the right time Most of all, you have to get noticed F one exxplains listeners, Jack, Deaggan, Jill, and Rachel from Texas have asked us how drivers make it to F one. Let's get the answers from F one Legend, Juan Pablo Montoya. Juan Pablo Montoya from Colombia is going to win his fifteenth Grand Prix. Down goes the accelerator. He can almost see the Ccken flag now. There it is. Montoya wins in Italy. Generally speaking the drivers on the current F one grid started by winning in carts and then graduated into cars. They made their names by racing in Europe, driving single seater, open wheel cars in junior categories. But for those born outside Europe, it means moving across the world to chase their dreams Oscarstri left Australia. Oscar Pastri wins for the first time in Formula One. In order to be able to do that and he's not alone. Franco Colapinto left Argentina, Gabriel Bortelltto left Brazil and looking further back in F one history, Juan Pablo Montoya left home in Colombia to race in Europe too His racing record is amazing. A few highlights, seven wins in F one in the two thousands, including the Monaco Grand Prix, two indie five hundred wins, three date oner twenty four hour wins. one made it. And now he's guiding his son Sebastian, who's racing in F two So he is the perfect person to explain How to make it to Formula O Welcome to Fon Explains Hello Gang, welcome along. My name is Christian Hughgill and this is the official F one podcast that lives and breathes to explain the wonderful world of Formula One. We're excited to have racing back in Canada this weekend and a man who knows a thing or two about racing on that brilliant amazing circuit in Montreal is Jan Pabublo M Toyot, who is our guest this week and as I say to Jan in the interview, listen I make no apologies for doing a bit of fang girling here alwaysways nice for me when I get to interview someone from my era. The early two thousands is when fell in love with Formula onene and Juan Pablo roared into the sport making a huge impact going wheel to wheel racing with the likes of the great Michael Schumacher. So I was extremely excited to talk to one. We caught up a couple of weeks ago in Miami Ju Pabo Mont Toya, welcome for your debut and IFon explains. It's a joy to have you here. Thank you very much. It's happy to be here. It's pretty exciting I'm sure it's a real exciting high point of your career. Juan Publo is also a bit husky with the vice so we're keeping it's okay.. I need to figure out because I'm doing a lot of TV today. so to do Spanish and English so I do all the previous and post in English and then during I'm running I'm doing Spanish. so this will just be in English. trust me, my Spanish is extremely poor, But Juan Pablo, we said it's your debut on the podcast as a two thousands child growing up in F one in the two thousands, it's exciting for me to have you here. I can remember you bursting onto the scene and taking on Michael Schumacher. So it's exciting for me. I've allowed myself to geek out a little bit as the presenter that we've got somebody from my era Formula One on the podcast. It's great to meet you. Nice to meet you. Now, Juan Pablo, we're talking about the journey into Formula One, of course. You started racing carts in Colombia then moved to Europe. Why did you initially make that move? So I did go go to Colombia and my father Brought into two world championships because All right Last in Colombia, the thought is, you know, if you go to a worldld Championship, you're going to learn a lot And a lot of Colombians and young Colombians went when they' and they struggle and they learned that on. They actually came back being quite competitive When I did it, it was like, okay, we're going to go. We're going to try. And I was quite competitive. You know I mean, I was shockingly competitive to be honest. I was terrible at the beginning, but No, no, Ily competitive is a lovely way of putting it. like, o, I can do this. this is good. Yeah, but it took me, you know, my dad did it well. We were there for a few weeks practicing and stuff and At the beginning it was hard Oh my Godd, if we were bad You say you were bad at first This seems a really silly question. How did you get better? How did you find your feet in those really early days on the first part of the motorsport ladder? So that we that for the World Champhip, we were lucky to get together with a guy named Boscolo. He worked for Bel Art And he used to build engines for them And he was free and we were ent testing with him. And he basically from what I was used to driving a go car and what I needed to how I needed to drive indiffere in Europe was very different And he got me to how I do this Okay, do that With time I got decent at it. But it's amazing that at that young age, you're already already developing things like your driving styles, which becomes so important when when it's important to them, but that's something we he have a lot of talks about right at the top of the ladder in Formula one. Yeah, you know what I mean? I think every person's different, every person bursts in a different time in a different opportunity in a different way U so yeah, it's I mean, it's a little bit of what it is. you know what I mean?' there's no magic You need to be lucky enough to get a break. Honestly, initially I thought I was really lucky when I Got the break to be a test driver for Williams. and I thought, and at the end of the year I was really competitive. I was quite good. So I thought, no, this is really good And at the end of the year, Frank didn't take me And I thought, I'm done You mentioned theyre catching a break. Now junior academies driver programs were much, much less common in those days But you were introduced to Sir Jackie Stewart who gave you a So Jack what Jackie did is they had their own team and stuff and where I was lucky off is they had a lot of sponsor themselves So what we had to bring was smaller than normal, that really helped And that was informo Voxall at the beginning. And the biggest thing there was what I learned from Jackie You know, they took us on a road car for a day with all the six drivers. Magnish was there, for example. Eo Castr Nevz was there. Ala Mcnish is now back in the F one part with Ai. Exactly. Personally speaking, I thought it was, you know, when they tell me, you know, this whole guy because you know, and this is ninety five. so he wasn't that old then It was what thirty years ago. Yeah Our concept of age changes we get older, doesn't it? Yeah like they probably the way they look at me today, Oh, that guy's so old. That' same with me. Exactly. exactly. We're all old compared to these kids driving F one cars. So when he took us around I look at it and I'm looking at him drive and I'm going There's nothing special here. Like what are you doing? L I can do this so much better than you And he was going so much faster than me with like ten percent of the effort and I learned a lot from him with that day and I started applying that in the Romal car and that made a big difference U another funny conversation I had once was Without' Press in Monaco the first year I was there in the F one He said Oh yeah, the first year here is difficult and inside I'm going yeah, it's so hard and now it's pretty easy. And inside I was going off. This is so hard. But you, I wasn't going to accept that it was going to be difficult. But it sounds like even though externally you might not have accepted it was going to be difficult. It sounds like you were good at soaking up and learning in things like a Dver Academy with Jackie Stewart. You mentioned in Carting where you said I started bad then ended up good. It sounds like you were good at soaking and listening and learning. Yeah, notot a sub in it, but yes, that would learn a lot. I think in my time, you never wanted to show any weakness You know, I think it was really important to be cut throughrow to do whatever I need to be done to get the job done where now the human side is an important side of it and they look at it like an important side of it. I look at it different but. Now most of the current grids starting carts, they go into a single seater racing formula into forormula three formula two. It's more unusual, not not completely out of the question, but it's more unusual to go into cars. You did go into cars on your way up. A, why is that changed? Why is that more unusual now? but B. Looking back, how much did it help you? Yeah, they go good There is a big fundamental base. for feeling, I think what you get out of Gkurts is The feedback. of what you need to get with the changes, race lines, basic driving and the raising side of it, the overtaking the understanding how you need to do the aggression, the crosssover, the all this is really important and you pick this really well in Go Kz. And more you mean in cars, it's nearly impossible to see it how you saw it in a go court The thing nowadays that's hard in cars is You have a few guys that are very lucky that from young age Aademies grabbed them and they put all the money and all the effort into them And they have a huge advantage on labs and on information compared with other guys. So I think that makes a big difference. And I think it's more money driven nowadays than it was in my time. I think in my time is like if you had talent, they will look at you where now they see if you have money, they look at you more Cuse. Pew And does it help drivers change their different styles? And for those new to motorsport, I'm when I talk about single seaters, I mean forormula three, Formula two, Fmula one cars, but when I talk about cars, I mean the more traditional, you know, what you'd look at as a five seater car. As I say, they are less common for drivers to go into nowadays, but you do see drivers like Max gof and race them in non race weekends Joing between the different styles, help you as a racing driver, you think, help you on that journey up through the ranks. Yeah, I think driving, the variety of things I drove made a big difference, especially with my career. I mean, has my career changed because I like I grew up driving little saloon cars in Colombia. I dropp protypes in Mexico. I drove all kinds of things. So When I left F one I when to drowve NASCAR when I w and drove the endurance racing and the indie cars and everything was different. That was I could adapt really quickly As I mentioned at the start of the interview my when my formula on fandom was really being born and was passionate. coincided with your arrival into the sports. cororrect me if I'm wrong, but I remember my vision of you being You're so exciting for the sport. You came in and you almost didn't have as much respect for it as some of the other drivers because you you weren't intimidated by it. You came in And in some ways you had great respect and in other ways, you just It felt like you didn't give a monkeys. You were here, you were there, you got your elbows out, and you got noticed so quickly And you think that's important, making an impact and getting noticed? because it felt to me like you really did that. I just didn't really care about anybody. That's what it came across like and it was great. You know what mean? And it's funny because he helped me a lot, but at the same time If I look back at it today and I still don't I always thought the day I stop racing, I'm going to look back at my achievements and I'm going to go Oh my God, I did all this. I'm such a good driver. and I'm more worried today about my golf swing and anything else. L today Yeah That's quite good. It's okay. not amazingly, but it's decent. I play pretty decent. Like today, I'm really excited because when I get home tonight, I have the new McLaren Arons Lovely. Now that is good F one merch. that is that's excellent. Yes, I'm getting that. I have a lunch monitor that I order. So I have that at Homo When I go back to Europe I got a new launch monitor and new irons, new everything something that comes up a lot on this podcast when discussing Formula One is dealing with the pressure to me from what you're saying didn't sort of feel like you felt pressure if you just had this sort of quite carefree attitude. Is that something you had to work on or did it come naturally to you No, for me was It wasn't about the pressure. It's about you either deliver or you don't There there's no medium ground and you have to deliver U So when you're so focus on beingating your teammate and trying to win races and be performing And you work so hard at it that the day it happens It becomes a relief Not un exciting because You talk about being quite carefree. I raced carts when I was young I actually think my mentality was worse than my driving. Don't get me wr. I wasn't a briiant driver. There's a reason I'm tal about it. I would have never made it Yeah, but you've done it. so that's fine.. But I think I struggled to cope too nervous, for example, I got sort of overauled by the big building know about the the overall picture and what could have been. Yes. and what could have been, it doesn't change anything. Absolutely, abolutely. It's funny because I give him a kid quite a bit of advice and we talk a lot and he has a psychologist and his psychologists The guy he uses as a reference is me. My kid met somebody That is playing golf. and they go, Oh, you know, my psychologist uses d your dad as an example. And I go, really, what's your name? And they gave the name and I was like, Ohh, that's my psychologist. So the mindset came so naturally for you, which must have been so helpful when rising through the ranks and not being Not helpful. I just I knew how difficult it was I wasn't happy losing Granger knows, when you're a procurement manager for an office park You're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners Light's about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVack on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering, and twenty four seven support. Call one eight hundred Granger, click Granger. com or just stop by Granger. For the ones who get it done Save more on what you need to get the job done right. Right now, at Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, select custom entry and interior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars on the D WAalt twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Lowe's Pro desk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo, or even a sticky note is all you need. Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget At lows. Valid through seven eight while supplies l. Selection veries by location We've talked a lot about your rise through the ranks. We should talk about Y son, Sebastian, racing in Formula two with Prmer. Just tell us briefly what his rise has been. Where did he start and how did he get to where he is now Yeah for him it's It's been tough because I think he's been underrated on how good he And it's funny because I tell you know, I mean, people withers that are talking and Like I think if you know me, and I told him like when the day he screws up, I go, you're an idiot And I'm okay, calling Iedia, by the way. Thanks, thatats But when he does well, it's the things he can do on a car nowadays, it's Unfreaking believable. It's been it's been tough because this year, I mean, we're just getting started But there was a lot of drama in the team where he's in A lot of changes and a lot of instability. so it made it a lot harder for him. but I think it's a good mental exercise, you know what I mean? It' sometometimes the rougher road makes you a better person and it makes you wanted more. And We're just hoping he can get a break, you know? And I think he really wants to have an opportunity to drive HF one car and show people what he can really do and you know, get a test and get in simulator and they go, oh because he, I mean, I think he's done everything he needs to do and he just, you know, personally speaking, I think he deserves a chance to to be looked at. And I'm guessing he started in carts. whereere did he go from there before getting into F two he did go cards in the States and then we came to Europe, did some go cards And then we did a four regional have three of two. you know, with the two years of it and is it a second year of F two? J Pabria, you mentioned earlier that sometimes you felt Sebastian has been underrated in some ways wonder if that has anything to do with your name. We obviously know that that Max Verstappen had his start racing Josh Verstappen, we've seen another recent example, Nico Rosberg with his dad KK. you could name plenty Obviously Ylson is coming in withith the name Montoya and there's been a very successful Montoya in Formula One, it was a great driver won races. canan that help C that hinder? What do you think it's like? Having the famous dad who's done it before you. I don't think for him matters because I'm just a dad I think that is something that is difficult. for a lot of the teams is when they're we're having conversations. about what they're doing and where the car is going and things They' shock of my knowledge base of information on notot on the driving but on the technical side I was never well known for being good technically because I didn't want people to know that I was very good technically. If this is what's making the difference, You don't want to share this with anybody. So I always was a carefree guy that really didn't care how the car was behind clothes or I work harder than anybody else to make sure the car was how I wanted it If you had to critically analyze your son and it sounds like you're not afraid to do that. What would you say that he needs to do to make it to Formula one? We need honestly The first thing for him is a bit of luck. like he needs, you know things just need to line up a little bit. I would say the hardest that he had to work on was qualifying And we had last year probably one of the brightest young guys that is Gabriella Mini that everybody looks at him like I don't think he's ever been beaten by a teammate. and we had him in the F four when we started cars And he was way more prepared than I and He whpped us all year round. He was really good in F four. He was very good in F three and everything. He's always been The best out of the three teammates all the time And you know to have him last year as a teammate it was going to be a tough challenge. And if you look at through the year, we were much better than him through the whole year. So when you're much better than a guy like that through the year and if you put yourself in my kids shoes that you go, look this everybody rates this guy like unbelievable. and I'm biding him every week. why are people not paying attention? And he does have a point. I guess it's a lot of what you said that you need that break, you need that little its you know, you just need the right timing, the right opportunity. And that's why I think a lot of it it becomes a thing the team looks more for funding, you know, is like A lot of the people that end up going testing on things is because they have sponsorship Of course, though I'm imagining that spponsorship You know, it is important, but you've got to have the level of talent as well, right? Oh yeah, ye. and There's a lot of people with a lot of talent, but there's always people with talent and money and there's so the people that don't have the money, but they have the talent and they were lucky enough to get, you know, the support early on. There are thousands of racing drivers, hundreds of thousands of racing drivers, young racing drivers looking to get brakes all over the world twenty two make it to Formula one at the moment If you could summarize What are they skills and attributes that you would say I needed. be one of those elite twenty two. haaving been there yourself. So something I told him yesterday had a rough qualifying. and they made a mistake with a car and he had a rough rough day. and He was really frustrated. and I said I said, it doesn't matter he done he told me, it doesn't matter how hard I'm working just things don't seem to work. And I go, The problem with what you're thinking is things don't happen when you want them Things will happen when they're meant to happen. So you need to keep working because this is where the point where a lot of people give up on I had from what you're telling me, you don't want to give up And I can see you don't want to give up But you need to understand that The effort on The results are never lined up You know what I mean? And I'll give you a simple example is You know, Kimy' won of the last two races and he's done a really good job But was the result would have been the same if the guy with the luck would have been George If the safety car would have been in Japan, Georges side, not on Kimy's side, who would have won the race? And things can change so fast, C't they that love? So and it ass what as I like you start like we go to Europe with you have two and, you know, you have two, three really good weekends and peopleeople change You know, the memory of the people here in this pado is very short memory Well Bablo, I've really enjoyed this. It's been great to get to know you. Formula One has a lot of drivers come through. You made such an impact and the sport was really lucky to have you and' lucky to still have you around. So wishing you all the best. and also good luck to Sebastian as he continues to push through. We hope to see him in a Formula onene car. sooner r than later. No, thank you. and honestly for all the kids that want to come here is and I told my kid this is a really hard road And you need to love it. You really need to love this and you need to be willing to sacrifice everything for it because the only way you're gonna to succeed as this is sacrificing everything Excellent advice to end. onene proble ono. Thankk you so much. Nice I really enjoyed that. G to speak to Juan Pablo Montoya. Great to meet somebody I grew up watching. What a cool thing. So thank you so much to Juan Pablo for taking the time to talk to us And of course, all the very best of luck to Sebastian as well as he continues in his battle to make it to Formula one. a really interesting insight from two generations of Montoyers really. let's say hello to a few of you out there. So many people have sent us nice messages recently. We get all sorts of statistics here at F one explains. and we know there's loads more of you listening than there was last year, newew people finding us all the time So we hugely appreciate that. O last week's episode about press offices with Sophie Og We wondered aloud when the Thursday F one media Day started and it was a fact that eluded me and producer Chris. Lee and Jen from Australia emailed to say they were at the first F one race in Adelaide in nineteen eighty five and they went to the circuit one Thursday and wandered around looking at the cars' drivers in the circuit. and the drivers were mainly watching their cars being assembled and answering questions from people, signing autographs having a sort of media day. They end by saying Cheers from Osgo Oscar So they go. Media day was sort of happening around forty years ago. Good insight Leon Jen from Australia. We appreciate that and yes, good luck to. Oscar this weekend in Canada. Vanetta on Instagram also messaged about our episode with Sophie. She said, Oh my Godd, this is so cool. Sophie is such an inspiration. Thank you Christian for this interview Vetta, you're very welcome. Vix also on Instagram says F one explains you are killing it with these interviews. someome of the literal best people and interesting stuff we don't usually get to hear about well played. Vix, if you'd like a job marketing Formula One's podcasts, you're very welcome because that's exactly what we try to do with F one Explained. So brilliant. Thankk you very much. We'll put that in the episode description or something