With his career winding down, Montoya wants to return to the joy of racing. He wants to put the pressure aside and return to what motivates nearly every driver of his caliber, the competition and the thrill of driving a racing machine beyond its limits.
“I still have the same mentality,” Montoya said. “I really had a blast this year at Le Mans. That freaking race track, the first time I went there I thought it was cool. I really thought it was nice.
“This time around, ‘Oh, My God!’ It was a much better car, a lot more comfortable. I felt at home with the car. When things flow there, wow, it’s so much fun.”
The move back to Monaco also gives Montoya a chance to work with his 15-year-old son, Sebastian, who completed his first season in F4 in 2020. He will compete in another season of Italian F4 in 2021.
“Three months ago, I wasn’t sure I was racing next year,” Montoya admitted. “When Acura decided to go a different direction with the teams and drivers, we are moving to Europe. My focus is on Sebastian. I’m doing a lot of coaching with the kids in karting and cars. It’s exciting and thought this may be the time to move out.
“Then, things started to come together.
“I was laughing with my wife (Connie). When things are meant for you; they are meant for you and the timing is right,” Montoya added. “I’m lucky to have a great group of people to work with. I get to race for McLaren again and race with DragonSpeed and race with Dane Cameron again. Everything that was really good for me is coming together again so I can’t really complain.”
With Sebastian’s career beginning, it made sense for the Montoyas to leave Miami and relocate to Monaco. It brings the family closer to the races on the schedule and gives Montoya a chance to spend more time developing his son’s racing ability.
“Next year will determine a lot of what we do,” Montoya explained. “We had Euro F3 testing in December and he was the quickest. He really enjoyed driving the more downforce and faster car. He is not strong enough yet. He turned 15 in April and is still very young and very skinny. He is very fit, but it doesn’t help to be very fit if you have no power.
“We have no rush. We are taking it little by little and see where everything takes us.”
The Montoyas are moving to Monaco, but many of Juan Pablo Montoya’s greatest “toys” as he calls them, will remain in a Miami warehouse. Those include his collection of racing machines and other cars, including the official pace cars from his Indy 500 wins in 2000 and ’15.
“I’ll probably keep the warehouse in Florida where I keep all the toys,” Montoya said. “I’m not going to move all of that stuff to Europe. We’ll keep the warehouse, but not the residence. I’ll move the beginning of the year and the girls will move in the middle of the year after school.
“That is the plan.”