Bernoldi and Alonso were youngsters at Arrows and Minardi respectively, while Raikkonen had to earn special dispensation from the FIA to compete for Sauber that season.<\/p>\n
Alonso\u2019s Minardi campaign was incredibly impressive<\/a>, even if he failed to score a point, but Montoya\u2019s background was far more established.<\/p>\n The Colombian driver had already won the International Formula 3000 series and the 1999 CART Championship with Chip Ganassi.<\/p>\n Grand Prix starts94Pole positions13Wins7Podiums30Fastest laps12Points307Best championship result3rd (2002, 2003)Juan Pablo Montoya\u2019s Formula 1 career<\/p>\n Williams<\/a> had already lined up Montoya before his 2001 debut, with Jenson Button the driver to make way for him upon his arrival.<\/p>\n Four seasons with Williams, including two third-place finishes in the drivers\u2019 championship<\/a>, followed before making the switch to McLaren<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, by the end of the 2006 F1 campaign, Montoya had already made his return to NASCAR.<\/p>\n He\u2019s now explained why his partnership with 2007 champion Raikkonen didn\u2019t quite go to plan.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya believes he\u2019s now seen a \u2018sign\u2019 that suggests Max Verstappen\u2019s move to Mercedes is close<\/a><\/p>\n Montoya was talking about his Formula 1 exit on the MontoyAS Podcast and explained: \u201cWhat happened was that I wasn\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very complicated because it was like working against the current.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like it was complicated. Imagine a sport like football, so people understand it a little bit better.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine taking [Radomal] Falcao, and you develop some special shoes with Adidas, some boots that are spectacular and help him hit the ball 20% or 30% harder, and to be more precise and to be able to score more goals and develop everything.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when they have it ready, they give it to [Lionel] Messi, but not Falcao.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then Messi looks like the tough one, and Falcao doesn\u2019t. And Falcao says, \u2018Hey, I developed this,\u2019 yes, but we only have a couple. That was my experience at McLaren.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happens is that, when you\u2019re not the chosen one, even if the contract says everything is equal, that\u2019s how it is.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of Formula 1 and that\u2019s it. All I did was work harder and harder and develop more parts.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, for me, it\u2019s complicated because the truth is I reached a point where my passion for racing died.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t leave Formula 1 because they kicked me out; I left Formula 1 because I got bored.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Kimi Raikkonen once made a \u2018massive\u2019 Max Verstappen prediction that came true after Lewis Hamilton clash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Juan Pablo Montoya reminded about being a \u2018team player\u2019 with Kimi Raikkonen before McLaren exit<\/p>\n Raikkonen and Montoya were teammates at McLaren for 27 Grand Prix before the Colombian quit and was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.<\/p>\n In that time, Raikkonen beat Montoya 16-11 in qualifying, and 15-10 in races they both finished.<\/p>\n The Finnish driver, who finished his career with 21 Grand Prix wins, went on to leave McLaren at the end of the 2006 season to make way for Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who had an even more fractious relationship<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Mclaren-Mercedes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-55903334-1024x631.jpg\")
Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON\/AFP via Getty ImagesJuan Pablo Montoya says he quit F1 because McLaren treated Kimi Raikkonen like Lionel Messi<\/p>\n![\"McLaren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-57226035-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Vladimir Rys\/Bongarts\/Getty Images<\/p>\n