Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Sebastian Montoya had the highest-scoring weekend of his Formula 3 career at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing fifth in the sprint race and second in the feature race.
That brought him 24 points, one-and-a-half times more than what his points tally from the season had been coming into the event. It ticked the box of aiming to recover from a negative streak.
“Happy, but more relieved. About time!” he said after taking his first F3 podium since April 2023.
Montoya climbed from fourth to second at the start of the feature race thanks to “a dry patch” on the outside line. He briefly took the lead at La Source on lap two as Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin went wide. However, Vosin regained the place immediately and Montoya was then unable to put him under threat despite three safety car restarts.
Nevertheless, for the season finale he will have momentum on his side and is aiming for a third car racing win. His first two came in Formula Regional Asia in early 2022.
Montoya spoke to Formula Scout in Spa’s paddock after the sprint race, when he was still classified eighth before post-race penalties for others lifted him three places. He emphasised a clean weekend was needed, highlighting his conservative approach at the last chicane where he lost two spots by braking early and on the inside line.
“This weekend what I’m trying to do is win the race, but I’m also trying to finish the races,” he stated, having retired from four of the preceding eight races. “Like that’s also quite nice seeing the chequered flag.
“It’s F3, everyone’s really aggressive and it’s a bit of a mess. I got a bit unlucky. I went 50-50. I thought the inside for the last corner would have been a bit better, but they just all stuck up and then trying to [navigate] it was just a mess and I was trying to cross [Sami] Meguetounif, but then Luke [Browning] stuck the nose in.
“And it’s a sprint race. I don’t want to get a [grid] penalty for tomorrow. I was trying to see what everyone was trying to do, and trying to focus on our strong points and weak points [to] make a step for tomorrow.”
Despite labelling it a mess, Montoya “really enjoyed” the action on track.
“It was really sketchy and there was a couple of times where you got to the top of Eau Rouge and you’re like ‘is it going to stick?’. But no, it was really fine. And being at the front is where we’re supposed to be with the speed we have.”
Montoya also commented on why many of the battles within the top eight, especially the one at the last corner involving five cars, were settled incident-free.
“Because it’s a sprint race and the conditions are a bit messy, I think all of us, especially racing at the front, understood that we were in the points and even though it’s not many points [they’re still valuable].”