Inspired by his father, Montoya began racing at a young age, and claimed his first karting championship at the age of six. Juan Pablo went on to win a number of Colombian championships before moving to compete in the US at the age of 17.

In 1996 Juan Pablo competed in the British F3 championship, and it was here that he began to get himself noticed. One pole and three victories helped him earn an F3000 drive for the following season, and Juan Pablo came second in the championship at the end of his first year!

1998 saw him crowned F3000 champion, and he was signed as a test driver for Williams, gaining his first experience of F1.

After losing out on a 1999 race seat with Williams after the team signed Alessandro Zanardi, Montoya switched his attentions to the US, making his CART debut with Chip Ganassi Racing. It was an impressive first season, with Montoya winning his third race and going on to score a total of seven victories to win the championship at his first attempt. He stayed in America for another year, and proceeded to win the Indy 500, becoming the first rookie to do so for 34 years.

Montoya finally made his F1 debut in 2001, replacing Jenson Button at Williams, and demonstrated his ability from the off.

An impressive move on reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher in Brazil saw Juan Pablo take the lead in only his third race, and the Colombian was heading for victory before a mistake by Jos Verstappen saw the pair collide, forcing Montoya to retire.

It was not long before Juan Pablo stood on the podium for the first time; a second place in the Spanish GP proved to be the first of four visits in his debut season.

An argument with Jacques Villeneuve during the Canadian GP weekend earned Montoya harsh words from team boss Frank Williams, and the Colombian appeared to take the lesson to heart, improving his qualifying performance and scoring two points finishes in the following three races.

A well-deserved victory came at Monza and Juan Pablo went on to out-perform his German team-mate for the remainder of the season.

In 2002 despite starting from pole position seven times, Juan Pablo was unable to convert any of these into victories, team-mate Ralf Schumacher meanwhile took a well earned win at Sepang.

Although the BMW engine was possibly the class of the field, the FW24 didn't do it justice, then again that doesn't fully explain Juan Pablo's failure to win at least one race.

In the opening races the Colombian tended to race with his heart rather than his head while as the season progressed there were some silly clashes with his team-mate, though often it was the German at fault.

Whereas Ralf is a thinker, Montoya is a racer's racer who tends to drive through problems. Some of his qualifying laps were sensational and consequently some of those pole positions were against all odds.

At Monza Montoya made history when he posted the fastest qualifying lap in F1 history.

Ahead of the 2003 season much was expected of both Montoya and the BMW-WilliamsF1 FW25, however after just a couple of races BMW was publicly criticising its technical partner whilst McLaren and Ferrari built a comfortable championship lead.

With BMW appearing to hesitate regarding the signing of a new contract, WilliamsF1 pulled out all the stops and suddenly the FW25 was the class of the field.

In the press room at Monte Carlo, Montoya got a standing ovation for a fine victory, the second win of his F1 career, in Germany he took another impressive victory, beating Schumacher in his 'home' race.

The Colombian looked set to take the title fight to the wire, until a 'coming together' with Rubens Barrichello at Indianapolis resulted in a 'drive-thru' penalty. The penalty couldn't have happened at a worse time for it had just started to rain and Juan Pablo was on the wrong tyres. This meant that in addition to the 'drive-thru' he also went off - due to the conditions - thereby losing valuable positions and indeed the World Championship.

Montoya and indeed most F1 fans and insiders feel that the stewards' decision that day robbed F1 of an epic duel at Suzuka, a three-way title fight.

Montoya has clearly matured this year, though there are still moments when his Latin temperament rises to the surface. In addition there have been a number of silly mistakes, some he got away with, some he didn't.

When, in November 2003, McLaren revealed that it had signed Montoya for 2005, there was widespread speculation that the Colombian would either join the Woking outfit a year early or be sent on 'gardening leave' by the Grove team. Yet at the launch of the FW26 there was Juan Pablo as large as life, looking relaxed and confident.

Anyone who had any doubts regarding his commitment to Williams F1 or his desire to win the 2004 title need look no further. The man means business.

2004 November

Grand Prix	Date	Team	Grid	Race Pos	Points	Total
Australian	07/03/2004	Williams-BMW	3	5	4	4
Malaysian	21/03/2004	Williams-BMW	4	2	8	12
Bahrain	04/04/2004	Williams-BMW	3	13	0	12
San Marino	25/04/2004	Williams-BMW	3	3	6	18
Spanish	09/05/2004	Williams-BMW	2	Ret	0	18
Monaco	23/05/2004	Williams-BMW	9	4	5	23
European	30/05/2004	Williams-BMW	8	8	1	24