Photos

J-PM at 2004 Monaco Grand Prix in the Williams
(Photo James Penrose)

J-PM’s Arai helmet with his name in real diamonds at 2005 Monaco Grand Prix for McLaren.
(Photo James Penrose)

Article

I always enjoyed working with Juan-Pablo, he is one of the rare characters in F1 prepared to joke as well as be serious. Definitely a serious and talented racer, but with Connie beside him – they are a caring pair of people and nice to be around.

The early days with the HANS® were a particularly tricky time and the discomfort these drivers had been going through isn’t to be underestimated. The way the research people had them using the HANS® at the track was completely stupid. HANS® of the wrong angle, tethers the wrong length. Was there any wonder that two years of trials handled in this way had resulted in zero progress?.

Imagine yourself in a race car – sit down on the sofa and try to get in that lay down position – imagine your chin is being pulled severely down into your chest, imagine your helmet is being forced forwards very uncomfortably by a bit of carbon behind it where you would normally rest your head comfortably on the headrest – that is what these guys were going through. Could you see over the steering wheel and drive an F1 car at 200mph in that position?

And it was definitely in part because of not involving the inventors from the states actively at the track. Juan had literally flung a Williams made HANS® across the garage accompanied by some interesting language when I arrived at the first of two tests I did at the start of 2003 to see if the HANS® could be made comfortable enough to use….:

“We arrived firstly at Williams – They had been trying all sorts of ‘home-made’ HANS® constructions. As we went into the garage an enraged Juan-Pablo Montoya screamed “I’m not using that ****ing thing again and threw it across the garage into the wall. I’d known JPM for some time and so I left him alone a while. Later things were a bit calmer and I asked him to try a standard HANS® from USA, I adjusted tethers, adjusted padding and his seat belts angles and so forth. He went out on a long run – maybe 30 laps, came in, got out of the car and started talking to his race engineer.

He still had the HANS® on so I tapped him on the shoulder and said ‘was this thing okay this time?’ he looked mystified and suddenly realised he hadn’t really noticed he’d had it on.”

Juan had trust in me, from helmet work before, to try the HANS® and when it worked easily, he spent the day trying all combinations of different padding, different tether lengths, adjusting seatbelt lengths and angles. At the end he was happy.

Some years on he was at McLaren and obliged due to some sponsor arrangement to use a particular HANS® – the race engineer at the time, who I’d worked with before at Team Lotus, refused to allow any change and just left him with discomfort for a full season. Towards the end of that season, I can’t remember the reason, but somehow his regular HANS® couldn’t be found, he borrowed one of mine, used it the entire weekend too.

I have an enduring image of him a the end of that race, walking back through the paddock to the McLaren garage, I asked “was that HANS® okay or not?”… no answer as he walked away from me – but he turned with a big smile and, hidden from the team, behind his back at me a double thumbs up!