Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya spent six seasons in Formula 1 and left a mark out of all proportion to that number. He arrived in 2001 with Williams after winning IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, and by his fourth race he was passing Michael Schumacher around the outside at Interlagos, a move that introduced him to the world better than any CV could.

His style was the opposite of what was taking hold in those years: late braking, declared aggression and no interest in managing anything. He won seven races, finished third in the championship in 2002 and 2003 and came close to fighting for a title with a Williams that was sometimes the fastest car on the grid and sometimes did not make it to Sunday.

In 2005 he joined McLaren alongside Kimi Räikkönen and won three races, but the relationship with the team never clicked. Midway through 2006 he announced he was leaving for NASCAR, an extraordinary decision for an active thirty-year-old driver, and ended his European career on the spot. He left the permanent feeling of a career that finished before answering its own question.