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Juan Pablo Montoya makes ASTONISHING revelation about debut Indy 500 race win

Montoya is a serial winner across multiple motorsport series, including the Formula 3000 International Championship, the Championship Auto Racing Teams series, the IMSA Sportscar Championship, the 24-hour race at Daytona, and the Race of Champions.

The Columbian is in attendance at this year’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix and spoke to Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz after qualifying on Saturday.

Max Verstappen’s jaw-dropping final sector to the chequered flag to stick is Red Bull on the pole reminded Montoya of his racing days.

A blast from the past

Montoya won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2003 having transferred into the sport from Indycar, with a total of seven wins in six years, but his most memorable moment came in his very first Indy 500 appearance.

“Yeah, I did [win the Indy 500 at first attempt],” he told Kravitz.

“I didn’t even want go to! We had moved from Honda to Toyota [engines] and we had a ton of failures. I was annoyed and like why are we taking the focus away from the championship?”

The politics involved has irked F1 drivers down the years also, but Montoya refocussed to take a stunning win.

The 2023 Indycar title tight

Honda has long provided engines for elite-level motorsport teams, recently revealed a partnership with Audi in F1 from 2026, and continues to supply the good for a number of teams in Indycar with this season’s title fight to be decided by the final race.

Juan Pablo Montoya

I think this year, it’s going to come down as always to the last lap,” said Montoya.

“I think Palou looks really strong, Dixon has got a bit of a vengeance and I think the boys at McLaren look really strong.”

The Colombian added: “From the two years I did with them, the second year the car was a lot stronger and they were there and I think Chevrolet made a good step, so we’ll see.”

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