Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Sebastian Montoya insists the environment within Prema remains “very ambitious” and is confident the team can return to the front of the Formula 2 field despite recent events behind the scenes.
Since winning both the teams’ and driver’s championships in 2021 the Italian team has gradually struggled to repeat such heights. Combining its points tallies from the previous two seasons still failes to match the 444.5 points scored in 2021.
The team is going through a period of transition following the departure of the founding Rosin family and other senior figures, but Montoya – racing for the F2 squad for a second straight season – insists it has the pace to fight for victories this year.
“There has been a lot of work made I have to say,” Montoya said to Formula Scout. “I think last year we were lacking pace.”
Speaking after a challenging qualifying in Monaco, the Colombian was keen to “look at the bigger picture” despite the frustration.
“We have to look at the bigger picture, which is we have made steps. I am really happy with where the car was today.
“I’m really happy with where we were today. We just need to make sure we keep going in this direction and keep pushing because I think we’re going in the right direction. We have a lot of speed so we just need to make sure we keep pushing forward.”
Now racing with Prema for his fifth season in seven years, Montoya has witnessed many changes throughout his tenure, including the departure of numerous staff members.
“There has been a lot of drama and there has been a lot of changes [recently],” he said. “Sometimes on the news you read things that aren’t all fully true but it is a different situation compared to last year.
“Right now the environment is very ambitious because we know the speed we have. We’re motivated, we really enjoy each other’s company. It’s not so much a team, it’s more of a family where we all believe in each other. We all have good laughs and good time together and we’ll just keep fighting.”
In Monaco, Montoya was certain that the team had pace and just needed a clean weekend to fully display it. “I was pushing a lot to make sure we can make the changes that we needed to be competitive today [in qualifying] which we were.
“It didn’t come together, we have to check exactly what happened. Maybe it was missing from my side or just whatever it was, so the last corner we were fighting for the top three top four and it just didn’t come together which is frustrating.”
Glimmers of pace were once again displayed in Saturday’s sprint race before Montoya then finished eighth in Sunday’s feature race, leaving him 12th in the championship after four rounds.