F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya turned down Ferrari move, because of Michael Schumacher

Montoya stood on the grid at 2006 Bahrain GP, in sunglasses with a straight face next to smiling Schumacher — Photo: © IMAGO

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Montoya turned down Ferrari move, because of Michael Schumacher

Here's why we never saw Montoya race in red

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 6 May 2026 22:42

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Seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya has revealed that he once received an offer to join his fierce F1 rivals, Ferrari.

Montoya competed in F1 between 2001 and 2006, driving for McLaren and Williams during the era of Michael Schumacher's glory years with Ferrari.

The legendary German racer picked up five of his seven drivers' titles whilst racing with the Maranello-based squad, who operated under the watchful eye of Ross Brawn during the 2000s.

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The Brit followed Schumacher to Ferrari from Benetton in the late 1990s and took up an instrumental role as technical director.

He is now best known for being the mastermind behind the dream team, which consisted of he and Schumacher, as well as Jean Todt and Rory Byrne. Together, they achieved six consecutive constructors' championships and five back-to-back titles between 1999 and 2004.

Few drivers were willing to challenge Schumacher at the wheel of a Ferrari during that time, but Montoya was always credited for his fearless approach to on-track battles him.

But it turns out it was the German who kept Montoya from ever making a move to Ferrari.

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Speaking in a recent episode of the BBC's F1 Chequered Flag Podcast after the Miami GP, Montoya said: "The crazy thing is when I was in F1, I looked at Ferrari and I never looked at it that way," referring to the allure that seems to attract so many drivers to the Italian team despite them not winning a title of any kind since 2008.

The Colombian driver-turned-pundit then revealed that Brawn had even gone as far as to extend an offer for him to switch over to Ferrari during his career, but that he had turned it down instantly for one reason.

When asked by 1996 champion Damon Hill why he never felt the pull from Ferrari, Montoya explained: "I don't know. Ross Brawn once came to me and said, ‘We would love if you ever race for us.’ And I said, ‘No, thank you.’ In hindsight, I go, ‘Oh my god, that was crazy.’

"I remember I came to the Williams meeting, I mean, after the race in Monza, and I told my engineer, [they] said, ‘How was it?’ I said, ‘Well, Ross Brown just said I should go to Ferrari.’ And [they] said, ‘What do you say?’ I said, ‘No, thank you.’ And they all looked at me like, 'Oh my god, you're crazy.'"

Montoya was then asked by commentator and co-host Harry Benjamin: "And you don't regret that?"

To which the former McLaren star replied: "No, I didn't want to have Michael as a team-mate because I didn't want to be a second-tier driver."

Though Montoya's decline of Brawn's offer appeared to shock many in F1 at the time, he is far from the only driver to admit that playing second fiddle to Schumacher offered little to no incentive to switch to the Scuderia.

Fellow former McLaren driver David Coulthard has previously spoken of sharing Montoya's opinion.

Montoya later added that the driver politics in play at Ferrari have made it hard for many stars of the sport to perform within their ranks, suggesting it was time for a change in operations.

"The hard thing, and I think it's getting a little better, is the amount of politics that are going on," the 50-year-old said.

"It's really hard to perform there when there's so many opinions and so many layers. You know what I mean? I think nowadays big companies have so many layers of opinions and sometimes [to] simplify things makes a big difference."

F1 Ferrari Michael Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya