Kimi Raikkonen had a range of teammates throughout his extensive Formula 1 career, and has been reflecting on his time racing with Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren. The two began working together in 2005, but had had some clashes on track whilst Montoya was racing for previous team Williams. This is something that Raikkonen acknowledges. However, the Finn says that they worked well together, and have had an amiable relationship in the years since. "We had some heated moments probably before we ended up [as] teammates," Raikkonen told the Beyond The Grid podcast. "But it was a good working relationship. Then finally, afterwards, I saw him some years ago, maybe two years ago, at some race. We were laughing about things. "And obviously I saw him when I went in 2011 to do the NASCAR stuff, and he was there obviously racing in the Sprint Cup. [He] came to talk to me and give me some advice, and we had a very good laugh and relationship afterwards."
Montoya's issues at McLaren
The rivalry between Raikkonen and Montoya came to a head at the 2006 United States Grand Prix. Both drivers were involved in a multi-car collision on the opening lap of the race, with the incident seemingly being triggered by the McLaren pair going wheel-to-wheel. Whilst it was not known at the time, this turned out to be Montoya's last race in Formula 1, with McLaren announcing soon afterwards that the Columbian driver would cease racing for the team with immediate effect. Montoya went on to compete in NASCAR and IndyCar, and was in fact reunited with McLaren when he took part in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 event. Despite their collision at the end of Montoya's F1 career, Raikkonen feels that the issues were more between Montoya and McLaren than amongst the drivers. "It wasn't that much between us two, than it was probably with him and the team," Raikkonen said. "We worked okay together, and I don't think that we had really heated moments that much. "And like I said, we laughed about it, but obviously we were both wanting to win and do well, and then he had this issue with his shoulder and this and that, so it wasn't the easiest thing. "But he could be very fast."
Most read
