“Ralf was the guy that made my life most miserable” – Juan Pablo Montaya compares ex-teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher.
Juan Pablo Montaya had Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen as teammates in Williams and McLaren respectively. Speaking to McLaren CEO McLaren for the official website, Montaya compared to two, choosing the more ‘difficult’ teammate in the process.
“Kimi and Ralf were both very strong, but Ralf was the guy that made my life most miserable.
“Kimi was very, very good, but what made it difficult for me when I went up against Ralf was that I really hated the car. I was really uncomfortable in it, so that made my life even harder.
“When I joined Williams, I would drive the car as fast as I could and then Ralf would go out and he was like seven-tenths quicker. I had nothing. You’re left wondering what to do next: you can either sit down and cry or get on with the programme and figure it out.”
JPM in Indy500
JPM is currently playing his trade in Indy500, and has young Pato O’Ward as his teammate. O’Ward is highly sought-after and will test for the McLaren F1 team later this season. Montaya had some kind words for him, and how he himself has matured with age when it comes to racing.
“It’s bit a similar now with Pato as my team-mate,” he added.
“He can adapt to whatever. You could put the wheels on backwards and he’d still run the same freakin’ lap time. I’m more about making sure the car is doing what it needs to be doing first and then the lap time comes.
“I think that’s something that comes more with age. When you’re young, you just drive the car and if it gets sideways it doesn’t matter. I don’t mind getting it sideways, but why get sideways if you can drive it straight?”
