Juan Pablo Montoya Born: 20 September 1975, Bogota, Colombia
Grand Prix Starts: 95 Grand Prix victories: 7 Points total: 307
Juan Pablo Montoya began racing karts aged six. Three years later, he was the hildren's National Kart Champion in Colombia. He was also the Junior Champion in 1990 and 1991.
A move to Europe in the mid-1990s saw Montoya compete in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Three, but he appeared to be sliding into obscurity until he was offered a drive in Formula '3000. He finished the season in second place and was promptly signed by Williams as a test driver in 1998. He was able to continue his Formula 3000 career, however, and won that year's title.
In 1999, Williams swapped Montoya for CART driver Alessandro Zanardi, so the Colombian found himself in the USA. He responded to the challenge and won the CART Championship at his first attempt. He backed it up by winning the Indy 500 the following year.
Montoya returned to Williams in 2001 but, despite several early-season retirements, he eventually repaid the faith by winning the Italian Grand Prix. He didn't manage another race win in 2002 but consistent points scoring saw him finish third in the championship, a position he matched by winning in Monaco and at Hockenheim in 2003.
He stayed with Williams for 2004 but only managed one win in Brazil so he moved to McLaren for 2005. He had a good season and won another three races (Britain, Italy and Brazil), which gave him fourth in the championship. He retired from Formula One partway through the 2006 season so he could concentrate on his NASCAR career.