Juan Pablo Montoya, former Formula 1 driver, has revealed that he received an offer from Ferrari during his time at Williams.
Speaking on the BBC’s F1 Chequered Flag podcast following the Miami Grand Prix, Montoya explained: “The crazy thing is that when I was in F1, I used to look at Ferrari and I never saw it in that way,” referring to the unique appeal that attracts so many drivers to the Maranello team.
The Colombian driver then revealed that Ross Brawn had approached him with the opportunity to join Ferrari during his career, but he immediately turned it down.
“Ross Brawn once came to me and said: ‘We would really like you to drive for us.’ And I said: ‘No, thank you.’ Looking back, I think: ‘Oh my God, what was I thinking.’”
He continued by recalling the moment he informed Williams after the Monza race:
“I remember going to the Williams meeting after the race at Monza and I said to my engineer: ‘How did it go?’ I replied: ‘Well, Ross Brawn just told me I should go to Ferrari.’ And they said: ‘What do you think?’ I said: ‘No, thank you.’ And everyone looked at me like, ‘Oh my God, you’re crazy.’”
When asked by the other guests what the reason behind his decision was, the former Colombian driver admitted:
“I didn’t want to have Michael as a teammate because I didn’t want to be a number two driver,” he concluded.
Juan Pablo Montoya’s candid admission provides a rare glimpse into the competitive mindset of the early 2000s, where the fear of being overshadowed by Michael Schumacher’s “number one” status outweighed the prestige of wearing the Ferrari scarlet. This revelation shows that for top-tier talents, the technical and political environment of a team is often just as critical as the car’s performance when deciding their professional future.
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