Sebastián Montoya is delighted to be back where his single seater career began as he prepares to race in PREMA Racing colours in his rookie Formula 2 campaign in 2025.

The Colombian driver first raced for PREMA in 2020 in the German and Italian F4 categories and continued with the team until 2022 in the Formula Regional European Championship.

Montoya then spent two full seasons in Formula 3 with first Hitech TGR and then Campos Racing in 2024 and is now going back to the Italian outfit as he prepares to step up to F2 this year.

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“It’s very exciting to be honest,” said Montoya of his return to PREMA. “PREMA was my home for the first three years when I started in open wheel, and to be honest it's really nice.

“I’m really excited also to jump to Formula 2, longer season, bigger cars, more power, more speed, makes it quite interesting. It's quite nice because the level of the drivers this year seems pretty high.

“There's a lot of drivers with experience, there are a lot of rookies that were really quick last year that are staying one more year and there's also a lot of guys that have done multiple years in the category and it seems like all the rookies are getting up to his speed quite quickly.

Montoya got his first taste of F2 machinery at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi
Montoya got his first taste of F2 machinery at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi

“You could see at the end of the season, the F3 drivers at the last couple rounds, they were right there, fighting for podiums and in the points right away. So, it was quite cool to see those battles and I'm really excited to get going.”

Montoya’s preparations started at the final two rounds of 2024 in Lusail and Abu Dhabi, when he shadowed the team and watched on as Ollie Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli went racing, before taking part in the post-season test.

Speaking about those few weeks, the 19-year-old explained how valuable that time was for him.

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“It's quite cool, especially seeing Ollie and Kimi, how they worked towards the end of the season,” he explained. “Obviously they had their journeys ready for F1, so, seeing how they were still working and balancing that was quite interesting.

“But also, they were preparing for the races and still wanting to perform well in F2. It's really easy to just say, I already have the F1 seat, so I don't really care about this anymore, but they were still working hard and Ollie did an amazing job in Qatar to get the win the Sprint Race.

“So that was quite cool as well and being part of the meetings and hearing how they were preparing for the races is quite cool because there's a lot more things that you have to manage than just the tyres.

Montoya last raced for PREMA in 2022 but will be returning to the team this year
Montoya last raced for PREMA in 2022 but will be returning to the team this year

“For example, there's also the brakes, the different compounds and more. Also selecting the different compounds and everything between that, it's quite nice. It was quite cool, and I learned quite a lot.”

Since the post-season test, physical preparation has been a huge focus for Montoya during the winter break, as has been working on the simulator to adapt his driving style to the Formula 2 car.

But it’s not just the driving side of things he has been focusing on, as he talked through all the different procedures he has been learning which he believes could make big differences in such a close field.

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“There's a lot of different procedures and different things that you have to do compared to F3,” continued Montoya. “Being a rookie, let's say the little details make a big difference, whereas before they wouldn't make that much of a difference or no difference at all.

“You can really tell the little differences can add up into big things and you need to make sure you do everything right at the end of the day because the gaps are so close, especially if you look at one lap pace in Qualifying.

“Everyone's quite close, so if you can put all those little differences towards your benefit, it's a lot easier to go quicker.”

Montoya is looking to continue from where he left off at the end of the 2024 Formula 3 season
Montoya is looking to continue from where he left off at the end of the 2024 Formula 3 season

Looking ahead, Montoya says he is looking to carry a similar mindset to the one that he had at the end of his 2024 Formula 3 season where he finished second twice across the Spa Feature and Monza Sprint races, although a post-race five-second penalty in the latter dropped him to P11.

“Towards the end of the year in F3, I think I kind of showed what I could do,” Montoya added. ”Everything aligned and I found myself in a good mental and physical state, whereas in the beginning of the season I was struggling with a bit of sickness.

“So, it was a bit difficult, I was kind of playing catch up. For this year to be honest, I'm just using that same mentality I used towards the end of the year, I know what I have to do, I know that if I do it well, I'll be there in the fight.

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“It's quite difficult to say that, yes, I'll be on Pole Position this many times or I'm going to win this many races because at the end of the day, you also need everything to kind of line up for you.

“But for me I'm just going to focus on working hard and doing what I’ve got to do and as I said, those little differences, putting them on my side to put myself in the best position to maximise my results.

“I know at the end of the day, if I do things right, we'll be there in the mix, we'll be there in the fight and hopefully we'll be on top.”