‘Michael Schumacher was a god and no-one touched him – but I didn’t care’

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher had an aura which intimidated drivers but one of his former rivals insists he never shied away from the challenge

As a highly successful racer known for being willing to cross the line when he felt it was required, Michael Schumacher had plenty of rivals during his Formula 1 career.

One of them was Juan Pablo Montoya, who was brought to F1 by Williams in 2001 after he won the previous year’s Indianapolis 500. He won four times across as many seasons before a switch to McLaren which brought three more victories, before returning to the USA to race in NASCAR.

The Colombian’s spell in F1 coincided with Schumacher’s period of remarkable dominance. He won five-straight drivers’ titles with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004, a period in which Montoya also performed well and finished third in the championship in back-to-back seasons.

And he was never afraid to go up against Schumacher, evidenced by a first-lap incident at the 2004 Imola race after which Montoya said Schumacher must either be “blind or stupid”. Speaking to W Radio in his homeland, the Colombian reflected on what it was like to go up against one of the greatest ever to race in F1.

He said: “Schumacher was a God to everyone and nobody touched him, nobody messed with him. But my message to him was, ‘I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done, I’m going to beat you’. If you give me an opportunity and give me a prize, I take advantage of it. When someone gives you a prize, you take advantage of it.”

Montoya did win several battles with Schumacher but never finished above him in the championship. The closest he came to doing so was in 2005, when the German had to settle for third after Fernando Alonso ended his long streak of title success, two points ahead of Montoya in fourth.

He might have been able to do so had he accepted an approach from Ross Brawn, then technical director at Ferrari, to join the Scuderia. But Montoya said he declined “because Schumacher was there” and he had no interest in playing “second fiddle to Schumacher”.

He explained: “Ross Brawn, one year, on a podium in Monza, came up to me and said, ‘We would love for you to be with us in red one day’. I turned around and said, ‘No, thank you’.

“Even if I wish I could have done it in the future, it was just a conversation. I closed that door because at that time I was at Williams and all I wanted to do was beat Ferrari, I felt very much like a Williams driver and I never thought I would leave that team.”

But he would do so for the 2005 season after falling out with the team over a perceived preference for his team-mate and Michael’s brother Ralf Schumacher, signing for McLaren. But, having grown frustrated with F1’s politics and focus on team success rather than individual glory, Montoya left the sport for a return to American racing.