We started the A-Z of F1 ball rolling with ‘Arrogance’ – and here’s another close contender for the sport’s ‘Ultimate Hot-Head’ crown…

2. Juan Pablo Montoya

They broke the mould in every sense when they made Juan Pablo Montoya: a temperamental, enigmatic firebrand from Bogota, Colombia, who once had the nerve to brand seven-time champion Michael Schumacher “nothing special.” Catapulted into the BMW-Williams team alongside Ralf Schumacher in 2001, it was only a matter of time before the former Indy 500 winner and ChampCar champion set the motor racing world ablaze, and turned the air blue in the process.

He showed his arrogance with no holds barred, both on the track and in the face of the media, starting with a forceful move on the elder Schumacher at Interlagos in what was only his third ever Grand Prix start. Bombing straight down the inside of the scarlet Ferrari, Montoya muscled his way roughly into the lead to assert himself as a serious title contender, and a key protagonist who was most definitely not to be messed with. It was with exactly that kind of all-in, balls-out manoeuvre that he exploded into the hearts of F1 fans everywhere.

As if putting the frighteners on Schumi the Elder wasn’t enough for the feisty Colombian, within three seasons he was bitching and griping about the German’s little brother; his own dear BMW Williams team mate Ralf. The FW25 was on fire in 2003, and the boys in blue-and-white took the challenge to Ferrari with all guns blazing. Monty may have blown the field away in Monte Carlo for his second F1 triumph, but he certainly wasn’t smiling when Ralf romped home first in Magny Cours three rounds later. Convinced that Williams were allowing Ralf a better car set-up than his own, Juan Pablo launched a scathing, expletive-laden attack on his team over the pit-to-car radio that earned him no merit whatsoever: just a written warning and a few dirty looks in the pit lane. It seems that no one told him that’s not the way to get on in life (or indeed, F1) – if you’re suspicious of your team mate, keep it to yourself, and on no accounts do you shout the odds at your boss.

He made rash decisions in the heat of the moment, some on-track and some off it, and some would argue that his move to Mclaren in 2005 was one of them. Animosity between himself and Kimi Raikkonen reared its ugly head from the start, and despite his three victories that season he did seem to spend an awful lot of his well-paid time in the gravel. By 2006, following more scrappy performances (spin on a godforsaken warm-up lap, for instance), it was evident that Ron Dennis’ patience was wearing a little thin with Montoya. But the Latino firebrand did what he does best and gobbed off vociferously at his team before doing a swift bunk across the pond, where NASCAR awaited with open arms.

During his short-lived period in F1 he managed to argue with two team mates, two bosses and a whole array of drivers over some on-track skirmish or other. He got everybody’s backs up and he simply couldn’t be tamed. But his brashness and devil-may-care attitude undoubtedly made him one of the most exciting drivers F1 has ever seen.

Arrogance rating – 10/10

Make sure you check out who else is arrogant enough to make the letter A in our Formula One Alphabet.

Montoya’s daring move on Schumacher, Interlagos 2001:

embedded by Embedded Video

A rant over the radio about Raikkonen:

embedded by Embedded Video

This cameraman got more than he bargained for…

embedded by Embedded Video

*

Click on the image below to view the Raquel del Rosario Gallery:

Related posts: