Triple-header highlights: Montoya’s pitlane-to-podium Feature Race in Monte Carlo

10 June 2025

There have been more straight-forward routes to the Monte Carlo podium than the one Sebastián Montoya took.

The PREMA Racing driver experienced a whirlwind of fortunes, from rock bottom to earning his maiden FIA Formula 2 podium, and the Colombian driver could hardly believe it following Sunday’s Feature Race.

Here’s how he went from P5, to pitlane to the podium.

Stalling on the grid having been set to go from fifth meant a pitlane start for Montoya. He was rolled away as the remainder of the pack completed the Formation Lap.

Somewhat fortuitously, his stalling meant that he avoided the Turn 1 drama, and he was able to join the race.

A by-product of the Lap 1 Red Flag was the resetting of the grid, taken from the original grid order but closed up without the cars involved in the Turn 1 incident.

Montoya stalled on the grid prior to the Formation Lap at the Monte Carlo Feature Race

That meant that instead of being shuffled back into the pack in fifth, Montoya’s starting position became P2.

The race restart went much more smoothly, and the PREMA driver settled into second place behind leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

Fornaroli had track position but there was no letting up with Montoya and Arvid Lindblad keeping within DRS range of the race leader, looking to exploit any mistake that the Invicta Racing driver might make.

Bruno Michel’s triple-header debrief: Another F2 title fight shaping up nicely

The Colombian kept the pressure on, never more than a second behind as he pushed for an overtaking opportunity that was tough to come by around the streets of the Principality.

The Virtual Safety Car with just over 10 minutes to go neutralised proceedings, but the conversion to a full Safety Car took the race out of the hands of the leading trio.

Jak Crawford and DAMS Lucas Oil benefitted, able to pit immediately to take a smaller time loss.

Montoya achieved his maiden F2 podium finishing third in the Feature Race

The top three responded on the following lap, but Montoya lost a position to Lindblad in the pits. The Campos Racing driver’s joy was short-lived however, as he was picked up for speeding in the pitlane. It gave the Briton a five-second time penalty that eventually promoted Montoya back onto the rostrum.

Crawford’s stop allowed him to leapfrog his rivals to inherit the lead, while Fornaroli and Montoya wound up second and third respectively, unable to make any moves before the end of the race.

Speaking afterwards, Montoya explained the whirlwind in emotions following the chequered flag.

Adapting to the car and learning from a teammate: How I Race with Josep María Martí

“Arvid passed me in the pitlane, and when I asked what position we were, and we were P4, I was not very happy about that, but then I get out of the car, I say thank you to the team for the amazing job they've done and then they told me I’m P3, so it was a roller coaster today.

“I'm extremely grateful. We've been working really hard with the team. I'm really happy with the steps we've done this weekend. In qualifying, we were quite strong. The car was in a good window. We worked a lot with the team to keep improving, and I'm extremely grateful for this.

“I’m extremely happy because it's been an absolute day. It's honestly incredible, going from the pitlane to the points, it was a good drive, and the car was really fast, so to be able to bounce back and finish on the podium here in Monaco is incredible.”