Juan Pablo Montoya spent the majority of his Formula 1 career at Williams. They signed him directly from American racing ahead of the 2001 season.
Juan Pablo Montoya spent the majority of his Formula 1 career at Williams. They signed him directly from American racing ahead of the 2001 season.
It was a successful move, with Montoya winning four times in his 68 starts. He finished in the championship top three in both 2002 and 2003 amid Michael Schumacher’s domination at Ferrari.
The Colombian ranks inside Williams’ all-time top five for podium finishes (23) and pole positions (11).
At the end of 2004, he left the team to join McLaren, where he spent two seasons before returning to the US as a NASCAR driver.
Juan Pablo Montoya faces £150k bill for driving his Williams F1 car
On the latest episode of his AS Colombia podcast, Montoya indicated that he had bought Williams’ 2004 car, the FW26. He won the Brazilian GP that year in what was his final race for the team.
But it’s one thing to own the car; it’s another to drive it. While it was powered by a BMW motor 22 years ago, there’s currently no engine in the back.
Montoya, who’s now 50 years old but was still racing as recently as 2023, hopes to equip the car for some laps in the near future.
But he expects it to cost him the best part of $200k (£147k) if he wants to complete significant mileage.
“The car is missing an engine,” said Montoya. “We were going to put one in this year, but we’ve never done a lap.
“The truth is, I have so many other things on my list of priorities. The idea is to take it for a few laps.
“If you want, you can donate a little money and give it a go! If you want to go for a spin in that car, do 40 laps in total, when you add it all up it’s going to be $150k to $200k.
“The day will cost you about $80k to $100k and the use of parts and everything else about $100k more.”
Which other F1 drivers own their past cars?
Back in 2024, Esteban Ocon was reunited with the 2021 Alpine car, best known for his victory at the Hungarian GP. That remains Ocon’s one and only F1 victory.
The Frenchman, who has now left to race for Haas, revealed that he was entitled to the car due to a clause in his contract.
Fernando Alonso won two world championships with Alpine forerunners Renault, and those historic 2005 and 2006 cars are now housed in his museum in Spain.
Likewise, Jenson Button owned his title-winning 2009 Brawn, but he sold it at auction last year. The bidding ultimately reached £2.8m.
Category: General Sports
