FORMULA ONE: Adjustments help Montoya show star quality in F1
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
September 20, 2001INDIANAPOLIS - When asked for their assessment of Juan Pablo Montoya's rookie season in Formula One with the BMW WilliamsF1 team, Patrick Head and Gerhard Berger both agree that the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner needed time to adapt to all the different aspects of the world of F1.
It appears that time was well spent, as Montoya earned his first career Formula One victory on Sept. 16 in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Montoya also has won the pole in three of the last four races. He will try to continue his hot streak in the BMW WilliamsF1 Team car at the SAP United States Grand Prix on Sept. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But that brilliant form came only after Montoya became adjust to the complex world of F1, a place where Head and Berger have vast experience.
Head has been the technical director and a shareholder of the Williams Formula One team since 1977. Berger drove in 210 Grand Prix races for teams such as Ferrari, McLaren and Benetton. He won 10 times and scored 95 other top-six finishes. These days he is BMW's motorsport director.
"Does he have a charisma as a superstar?" Berger said of Montoya. "He has it, and everybody likes to see him as a superstar. He won races in the States and came into F1, pushed by the media, as a superstar. Then, you have to deliver. And if you don't deliver, you get into difficulties. But you can't deliver when there are already a couple of superstars who are doing their job very well.
"You have to use the tools you have in F1 - things you don't have in other categories - and for this you just need time and experience. Juan even has to learn some of the circuits.
"At the beginning of the season, there were some guys suggesting he would be one second quicker than the others, and of course he didn't meet those expectations. But I think he's doing a good job. He's very talented - he has good car control."
Head and team owner Frank Williams both said at the beginning of the season that Montoya needed to get into better physical shape.
"Fitness (is vital) for a driver, and the ability to drive to the limit as if every lap is a qualifying lap," Head said. "You must remember that the races today are sprints. I personally believe that Michael Schumacher's level of personal fitness is not just part of his ability to perform physically, it's also an important factor in his mental psyche."
Head agrees with Berger that Montoya has needed to adjust his mental approach to Formula One.
"Juan came into F1 maybe with everybody else, and himself, maintaining expectations which were unrealistic," Head said. "He has adjusted, not by (being prepared) to run behind Michael (Schumacher), because I am sure his ambitions are still higher than that, but to the extent that he has had to tell himself that the F1 guys aren't quite as easy to beat as he might have expected, and he's had to admit that some of them are pretty good.
"I am sure his game plan is to get himself into every bit as good a shape as he can in order to be able to compete with them for the championship next year."
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USGP tickets available: Tickets for the SAP United States Grand Prix on Sept. 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway are available by calling (800) 822-INDY or by downloading a ticket form at www.usgpindy.com.
Text provided by Paul Kelly
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