Tiago Monteiro

Tiago Monteiro Monteiro in 2005, as a Formula One driver Nationality Portuguese Date of birth July 24, 1976 (1976-07-24) (age 34) Place of birth Porto (Portugal) 2011 World Touring Car Championship Debut season 2007 Current team SR-Sport Car no. 3 Starts 80 Wins 3 Poles 2 Fastest laps 3 Best finish 9th in 2009 Previous series 1998-2002 2002 2003 2004 2005-06 French F3 International Formula 3000 Champ Car World Series by Nissan Formula One Tiago Monteiro Date of birth 24 July 1976 (1976-07-24) (age 34) Formula One World Championship career Active years 2005–2006 Teams Jordan, Midland, Spyker Races 37 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 1 Career points 7 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2005 Australian Grand Prix Last race 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1999, 2001, 2009 Teams Paul Belmondo Racing, Larbre Compétition, Team Oreca Matmut-AIM Best finish 17th (1999) Class wins 0

Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [tiˈaɡu mõˈtɐjɾu]; born 24 July 1976 in Porto, Portugal) is a Portuguese racing driver who drove for Jordan, Midland and Spyker MF1 Racing Formula One teams—all progressive iterations of the same team as it was bought up by new owners—during a two year stint as part of the Formula One circus. In the first year of his Formula One career (2005) he set a new record for the most finishes by a driver in their first season (18),^[1] and also achieved a podium position (3rd place) at the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix.

Monteiro currently races with the semi-privateer SR Sport team in the World Touring Car Championship driving a SEAT León TDI, following the withdrawal of SEAT Sport at the end of the 2009 season.

Early career

Monteiro was inspired by his father to begin racing, and drove in the 1997 French Porsche Carrera Cup. He took five wins and five pole positions to become B-class champion and rookie of the year. In 1998, he moved on to the French Formula Three Championship, finishing 12th overall and taking the rookie of the year award. He continued in the championship in 1999, taking one win and three other podium positions to finish sixth overall. He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans race, finishing 17th overall and sixth in the GT2 class. In the International Renault Finals held at Estoril, Monteiro claimed the win after taking pole position and the fastest lap of the race.

In 2000, Monteiro again competed in French F3, this time finishing second in the championship after taking four wins throughout the season. He also competed in the single Formula 3 European Championship double-header race, finishing second overall with one win at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He also competed in a couple of one-off events, coming second in the Korea Super Prix and ninth at the famous Macau Grand Prix. In the Lamborghini Super Trophy, he managed the fastest lap at Magny-Cours, and both pole position and the fastest lap at Laguna Seca. In 2002, Monteiro again finished second overall in the French F3 Championship after taking six pole positions, four wins and four podiums. Also competing in the French GT Championship, he managed four pole positions, two class wins and five podium finishes in the GTB class. A one-off entry in the Formula France series saw him win both races, and in the Andros Trophy, he did one fastest lap with a best finishing position of fourth.

In 2002, he moved up to the International Formula 3000 Championship with the Super Nova Racing team, taking five top-ten finishing positions on his way to 12th in the championship standings. He also completed the Renault F1 Driver Development Scheme, and had his first taste of a Formula One car, testing with the Renault team at Barcelona. In 2003, he joined Fittipaldi Dingman Racing for the Champ Car World Series, achieving a pole position in Mexico City and leading two races. He finished the year with 10 top-ten finishes, scoring 29 points to come 15th in the championship. Monteiro was signed up as an official Minardi test driver for the 2004 season, but also competed in the Nissan World Series with Carlin Motorsport. He was named Rookie of the Year after finishing second in the championship, and was ranked fifth in Autosport magazine's top ten drivers in the Formula One "breeding ground" championships.

Ironically, one of his surnames, "Vagaroso", means "slow" in Portuguese.

Formula One career

After the Midland Group bought Jordan Grand Prix, Monteiro was announced as a full-time race driver alongside Indian Narain Karthikeyan.

Monteiro at the controversial 2005 United States GP.

In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he achieved his first podium finish in farcical circumstances when all but three teams pulled out due to concerns over tyre safety (the Michelin-equipped teams pulled out of the race, not taking their place on the grid. The Bridgestone teams were the only ones to run). Monteiro finished third out of just six drivers.

At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled dignitaries were present, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited. However, Monteiro stayed behind to celebrate his first podium finish alone amid the booing fans, a decision which although initially controversial, was later met with some sympathy from the Formula One fraternity.

As of the 2005 United States Grand Prix, Monteiro became the most successful Portuguese driver ever in Formula One racing. Pedro Lamy held this record before Tiago with one point and sixth place at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix with Minardi. Also of note, as of the 2005 Belgian Grand Prix (where he also scored another point), Monteiro had finished every race of the 2005 season, and holds the record for consecutive finishes for a rookie driver in Formula One, taking this from Jackie Stewart (1965 season) and Olivier Panis (1994 season), who finished their first six races. At the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, however, driveshaft failure brought his run to end. Despite this, however, by finishing the last two races of the season in Japan and China, he still managed to break the record for the most finishes in a single season. Michael Schumacher finished all 17 races of the 2002 season, whilst both Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished 17 out of 18 races in 2004. An 11th-place finish at the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix meant that Monteiro had finished 18 out of the 19 races.

Near the end of the 2005 season Monteiro was involved in an incident with Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya in the final laps of the Turkish Grand Prix. The crash damaged Montoya's car and caused him to lose control of it on the penultimate lap letting rival Fernando Alonso through and ruining McLaren's chance of a first 1-2 finish since 2000.

In 2006 Midland re-signed Monteiro to partner Christijan Albers. The two endured a much less successful season, with their new M16 car not even registering a single point. In the 18 races, Monteiro retired from seven, with his best finish being at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he finished ninth, just outside the points-scoring positions in the 2006 season.

On 21 December 2006 it was announced that Monteiro would not be racing for the Spyker F1 team in 2007. The highly-rated German Adrian Sutil was instead signed on a long-term contract.^[2].

WTCC career

Monteiro driving the SEAT León TDI at Brands Hatch in July 2008

On 6 March 2007, it was announced that Monteiro would join the SEAT Sport team and would drive in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with a SEAT León.^[3]

He was forced to wait until the second round of the 2007 season at Zandvoort to make his debut, as the contract was signed late. However, he took three podium finishes during a successful first season.

In 2008, he took his first win at Puebla in Mexico, and later in the season he won the second race at Estoril in Portugal, which was also his home event.

He stayed with SEAT in 2009, and scored two podiums in Valencia and Brno en route to finishing 9th overall in the drivers standings, contributing to SEAT winning the manufacturers championship. On 13 January 2010, SEAT announced that it would be pulling out of the WTCC from at least the 2010 season, and Monteiro's future looked uncertain. However on 19 February 2010, it was announced that he would partner 2009 teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gene along with Tom Coronel in the renamed SUNRED Engineering (SR Sport) team which will receive significant funding from SEAT Sport.^[4]

Team ownership

Monteiro became interested in team ownership during 2008, and held discussions with the BCN Competición team on the subject of a possible buy-out.^[5] On November 27, he announced that he had bought the team and renamed it "Ocean Racing Technology".^[6] The team had a successful first year, including a win in the Belgian feature race with Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente. The team have also competed in the GP2 Asia Series.

V8 Supercars

On 23 April 2010, it was announced that Monteiro will compete as a "guest" driver in the Gold Coast 600 round of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship in Surfers Paradise from 22–24 October 2010. He will share a Holden VE Commodore with Tony D'Alberto, and the car will be set up by the Centaur Racing team.^[7]

Personal life

Tiago is married to Portuguese model Diana Pereira. The couple have a daughter, Mel (born in February 2008) and a son, Noah (born in November 2009).

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete CART results

()

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Complete WTCC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(*) Season in progress

References

External links

• Official website
• Tiago Monteiro profile and statistics
• Tiago Monteiro statistics 1998 and forward