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MF1

Full name	Midland F1 Racing
Base	Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Founder(s)	Alex Shnaider
Noted staff	Colin Kolles James Key
Noted drivers	Tiago Monteiro Christijan Albers
Previous name	Jordan Grand Prix
Subsequent name	Spyker F1 Team
Formula One World Championship career
Engines	Toyota
Debut	2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Races competed	18
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
Final race	2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

Formula One portal

Midland F1 Racing (often shortened to MF1 Racing) was a Formula One constructor and racing team. It competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. The team was created by the renaming of Jordan Grand Prix after its purchase by Canadian businessman, and owner of the Midland Group, Alex Shnaider. The team was registered as the first Russian Formula One team, reflecting Shnaider's roots, although it continued to be based in the United Kingdom, at Jordan's Silverstone factory. Towards the end of the 2006 season, the team was sold to Spyker Cars N.V.; the team raced in its last three Grands Prix under the official name "Spyker MF1 Racing". In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Dr. Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1.^[1]

2005 purchase of Jordan[link]

Narain Karthikeyan driving for Midland owned Jordan at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

The Midland Group's interest in Formula One involvement began in 2004 when they confirmed their plans to have a team to race in place for the 2006 season.^[2] Although they were initially linked with creating a new unit or purchasing Jaguar, the group instead signed a deal to buy the Jordan team from Eddie Jordan prior to the 2005 Formula One season, for a sum of $60 million. As a result, the team would be a legal continuation of Jordan and not a new entity subject to Formula One's $48 million entry bond. It also allowed Midland to claim the television revenue generated by Jordan's placing in the constructors' championship (in which Jordan subsequently placed ninth).

The team retained Jordan's name for the 2005 season but struggled at the back of the grid with rookie drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro. The highlights of the season were Monteiro's third-place finish at the US Grand Prix (in which only six cars competed due to problems with Michelin tyres) and his lengthy streak of consecutive finishes, which underlined the car's reliability.

Some media reports at this time began to speculate that Midland were unhappy with their purchase and looking to offload Jordan even before the team entered under its own name in 2006. Team principal Trevor Carlin quit the team after seven races, and chief engineer and designer Mark Smith before the end of the season. There were consistent reports that the team was linked with a buy-out by former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine.

2006 season[link]

Christijan Albers in the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

The name of the team was changed to MF1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season. In the UK a joke emerged regarding this short form being written in the same way as economy furniture manufacturer MFI. Over the winter Russian driver Roman Rusinov tested a new car, the Midland M16 with a new livery (red, white and black to reflect Midland Group's corporate colours) and Toyota engines. MotoGP motorcyclist Max Biaggi also had a test in the car at Silverstone in January.^[3] Italian racing car constructor Dallara had originally been contracted to develop the M16, however the agreement was discontinued during the design process after a disappointing contribution from the Italian manufacturer. The senior management subsequently placed its faith in the incumbent design team, promoting former head of vehicle science James Key to the role of technical director towards the end of the 2005 season.

Shnaider had been insistent that Midland intended to field Formula One's first Russian driver - although Russian drivers had tested in the past, mainly for the Minardi team, none had ever raced in a Grand Prix - but instead signed Dutchman Christijan Albers from Minardi,^[4] and retained Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro. The team had previously failed in a bid to sign Takuma Sato.^[5]

During the team's very short time in F1, they used three drivers on the Fridays of Grands Prix:

• Markus Winkelhock at Sakhir, Melbourne, Hockenheim and Hungaroring
• Giorgio Mondini at Sepang, Imola, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Silverstone, Montreal, Indianapolis, Istanbul and Monza
• Adrian Sutil at Nürburgring and Magny-Cours

During the last three races, as Spyker MF1 Racing, the team used the following test drivers:

• Alexandre Prémat at Shanghai
• Adrian Sutil at Suzuka
• E. J. Viso at Interlagos

Midland's two drivers collide on the first lap of the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

As the 2006 season went on, the team went from running ahead of Super Aguri but behind everyone else, to consistently sparring with other midfield teams such as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso although it only ever finished ahead of crippled cars, Super Aguri and the occasional Toro Rosso. Much of that progress was down to tyre development from Bridgestone coupled with significant improvements in aerodynamics and handling (overseen by Simon Phillips and Richard Frith respectively). The improved performance saw the team begin to make it into the second qualifying session on an occasional basis - eight times out of a possible 36 overall - with a best qualifying position of 14th.

Unfortunately this increased mid-season performance did not translate into hard results as the team were involved in a number of first-lap accidents, notably at Monaco, Indianapolis and Montreal, and the team was disqualified from the German Grand Prix for running a flexible wing in contravention of the sport's technical regulations.

The team went from being around four seconds off the pace per lap in 2005 to around 2 seconds per lap at the time of its sale to Spyker cars in September 2006.

Sale of the team[link]

Christijan Albers driving a 2006 M16 in the late season Spyker livery.

Rumours had been floating about in the paddock throughout the mid-season about the possible sale of the team, less than two years after Shnaider originally bought it from Eddie Jordan. Reports suggested a price tag of $128 m, and that Shnaider was seriously considering the possibility of the sale. Formula One teams had become more valuable, because no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled.

On September 9, 2006, it was revealed that the team was sold to Spyker Cars.^[6] Spyker paid $106.6 million for the team. On September 10 ITV Sport said that Shnaider was no longer involved in the team since the announcement of the sale. Colin Kolles remained as team principal, while Michiel Mol became the new Director of F1 racing and member of the Spyker board and Mike Gascoyne joined as Chief Designer at the end of the season. The cars appeared in a revised livery for the final three races of 2006.^[7] Name changes are not allowed mid-season, but Spyker were legitimately able to name themselves as the team's title sponsor, so the team raced in its last four Grands Prix under the official name "Spyker MF1 Racing". In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1. From 2008 onwards, the team competes as Force India.

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Points	WCC
2006	Midland M16	Toyota V8	B		BHR	MAL	AUS	SMR	EUR	ESP	MON	GBR	CAN	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA	0	10th
				Tiago Monteiro	17	13	Ret	16	12	16	15	16	14	Ret	Ret	DSQ	9	Ret	Ret*	Ret*	16*	15*
				Christijan Albers	Ret	12	11	Ret	13	Ret	12	15	Ret	Ret	15	DSQ	10	Ret	17*	15*	Ret*	14*

* As Spyker MF1 Racing

(The team was disqualified from the German Grand Prix for running a flexible wing in contravention of the sport's technical regulations.)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: MF1 Racing

• MF1 Racing official website

v t e Midland F1 Racing Founder: Alex Shnaider Drivers: Christijan Albers | Tiago Monteiro Test Drivers: Markus Winkelhock | Giorgio Mondini | Adrian Sutil | Alexandre Prémat | Ernesto Viso | Roman Rusinov | Max Biaggi Formula One car: M16

Adrian Sutil

Sutil at the 2011 Italian Grand Prix
Born	(1983-01-11) 11 January 1983 (age 29)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	2007–2011
Teams	Spyker, Force India
Races	90
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	95
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
Last race	2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
2011 position	9th (42 pts)

Adrian Sutil (German pronunciation: [ˈadɾjan zuˈtil]; born 11 January 1983 in Starnberg, West Germany) is a German Formula One racing driver.

Biography[link]

Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan.^[1] He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds (75 kilograms) and is 6 feet (183 centimeters) tall. A talented pianist,^[2] Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002. He won all ten rounds of the season from pole and added five wins in the Formula Masters Austria championship.^[1] Sutil speaks fluent German, English, Spanish and a little Italian. He is friends with fellow German driver Nico Rosberg.

Formula BMW & Formula Three[link]

When Sutil moved up to the Formula BMW ADAC championship in 2003 he finished in sixth place in the series, but with no wins. The following season he stepped up to the Formula 3 Euroseries with Colin Kolles' team. Although he scored only twice, the connection he made with Kolles would prove useful in the future. He moved to the ASM team at the final round of the year.^[1]

Sutil stayed with ASM for 2005 and was joined by British driver Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton won more races than Sutil, but the German was runner-up to Hamilton and the Briton's only serious competitor in the championship and at the prestigious Marlboro Masters of Formula Three at Zandvoort.^[1]

Sutil missed the last two rounds of the 2005 Euroseries after joining A1 Team Germany for the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series. He raced for them at three events in Portugal, Australia and Dubai, his best result being two twelfth places.^[1]

He spent 2006 racing in Japan and won the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. He showed a very strong performance all season. He also finished third in the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix and made a one-off appearance in Japanese Super GT.^[1]

Formula One[link]

2006[link]

Sutil testing for Midland F1 Racing in February 2006

That year also saw Sutil enter Formula One. In January, he was confirmed as a one of the three test drivers for the new Midland F1 Racing team, along with Markus Winkelhock and Giorgio Mondini. This came thanks to his connections with Colin Kolles, who was then running the team.

Sutil appeared for the team as the third driver at the European, French and Japanese Grands Prix. By the time of his third appearance the outfit had been bought by Spyker Cars. At the end of the year he was promoted to second driver for the 2007 season, having been signed on a multi-year contract by the Spyker MF1 Team.^[3] In an interview with the Official Formula One website, Sutil's first 2007 teammate, Christijan Albers, commented that "Adrian is a good driver and he will be quick this year, but as a driver you should always be pushing to the limits without thinking what the guy in the car next to you is doing. But Adrian will be a good team-mate and it looks as though he's going to be a big talent [for the future]".^[4]

2007[link]

Sutil driving a Spyker F8-VII at the 2007 French Grand Prix

During 2007, Sutil out-qualified and out-raced his team-mate Albers at all Grands Prix before the Dutchman was replaced by Sutil's countryman Markus Winkelhock, test driver for the team up until that time at the European Grand Prix. Sutil out-qualified Winkelhock, although the latter went on to lead the race and re-start after a sudden downpour. Winkelhock resumed his third driver role for the following grand prix at Hungary when Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto took over the second team seat. Sutil out-performed Yamamoto in the race, passing Honda drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

In the Hungarian Grand Prix Sutil was the first Spyker driver in 2007 to beat another running classified finisher, Honda's Rubens Barrichello.^[5]

For the Turkish Grand Prix, a B-spec car was expected for the Spyker team but it failed a rear crash test and Sutil continued to use the older spec car. After fuel pressure problems he was forced to start the race from the pits and finished five laps behind. At Monza, despite the introduction of the B-spec Spyker F8-VII and due to the nature of the circuit, the Spykers were largely uncompetitive once again and Sutil finished 19th, again only in front of his team-mate.

Sutil driving for Spyker at the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix

At the Belgian Grand Prix, the strengths of the B-spec car were fully evident with both Sutil and Yamamoto setting competitive times through the three practice sessions culminating in Sutil qualifying only half a second behind 16th placed man Vitantonio Liuzzi. During the race, Sutil passed the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button as well as the Red Bull's David Coulthard, Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi and Williams driver Alexander Wurz. He ran as high as 12th before finishing 14th. He was highly praised for his efforts by both team and media.^[6]

Two weeks later in the rain at Fuji Speedway, Japan, it seemed Sutil had narrowly missed an opportunity to score Spyker's first ever point, briefly holding 8th position on the penultimate lap of the high-attrition race after Nick Heidfeld retired his BMW, but was almost immediately passed by fellow backmarker Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso and finished 9th. After the race it was found that Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under yellow flags, and the 25-second penalty for the Italian promoted Sutil to the final points position. Toro Rosso appealed the decision, but the penalty was upheld.^[7]

Sutil driving Spyker F8-VII B at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, Spyker's last race

Spyker were not competitive in the final two races of the year, neither of which Sutil finished. He has been praised by many for his performances in the 2007 Formula One Championship. Despite driving the most uncompetitive car of the year, the German rookie impressed by not only dominating all of his teammates in both qualifying and race conditions, but also by challenging other drivers with superior equipment.

2008[link]

Sutil driving for Force India at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

Sutil continued with the team in 2008 under its new identity as Force India, after briefly entertaining the possibility of a drive with McLaren or Williams.^[8] The first two races of the season ended with mechanical failures.

While running in a very strong fourth position in Monaco with six laps remaining, he was hit in the rear by fifth placed Kimi Räikkönen who lost control of his car while braking for the harbour chicane. A crash a few laps earlier had resulted in the safety car being deployed, with Sutil losing his considerable lead over the Finnish driver. Sutil's car suffered damage to the rear diffuser, and he was forced to retire.^[9] Mike Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be punished over the incident. No punishment, however, was given.^[10] However, Sutil had overtaken three cars under yellow flags and according to steward Paul Gutjahr, should he have reached the chequered flag, he would have been given a 25-second penalty which would have dropped him out of the point-scoring positions.^[11]

On 17 October Force India announced they would keep Sutil for the 2009 season.^[12]

2009[link]

Sutil and the Force India team started the year with a real optimism of points scoring finshes when the European part of the season started after the first four races.^[13] BBC commentator Martin Brundle expressed his personal view that:

In Australia, after starting from 16th on the grid, Sutil progressed steadily through the field to finish just outside the points in 9th place. In Malaysia, he qualified 19th and finished 15th when the race was stopped on lap 33 due to torrential rain.

Sutil driving for Force India at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

In China, Sutil was running in 6th place with 6 laps remaining when he lost control of his Force India – due to aquaplaning – resulting in him crashing and forcing him to retire.

In Bahrain, Sutil was penalised for blocking Mark Webber during the first qualifying session. He personally walked into Mark's room to apologise for the incident.

In Spain, after running wide at the first corner of the first lap Sutil rejoined the track only to hit the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. The Italian had also run wide and was rejoining the track. This forced both drivers to retire and caused the two Toro Rossos of Sébastien Bourdais and Sébastien Buemi to crash into each other.

In Monaco, Sutil finished 14th and finished 17th in Turkey, after qualifying a career-best of 15th.

Sutil leading Fernando Alonso at the 2009 British Grand Prix

In qualifying in Britain, Sutil went off at Abbey corner after brake failure in Q1. Qualifying was red flagged and as a result no one else could post a lap time. This meant that Sutil was to start from 18th on the grid, although the team had hoped that both Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella would get into Q2. Due to the damage caused by the accident he had to start from the pit lane because he needed to use a new car and a new engine, and went on to finish 17th in an uneventful race.

Sutil at the 2009 German Grand Prix

In Germany, Sutil took advantage of the unpredictable conditions in qualifying, and secured his best-ever qualifying position of seventh. In the race, he was lying in second place for a while before his first pit stop. However, a collision with Kimi Räikkönen after coming out of the pit lane meant he had to pit again to replace his front wing. He finished 15th. It was the second time that a collision with Räikkönen cost Sutil the chance to score points, after the previous incident at the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix.

In Hungary, he was forced to retire after just two laps because a water temperature problem caused the engine to overheat, after qualifying 17th.

In Valencia, new aerodynamic upgrades for the VJM02 saw him qualify 12th, and he then raced steadily to finish 10th, demonstrating that the team were at last showing signs of competitiveness, as teammate Fisichella finished 12th behind Heidfeld's BMW Sauber.

In Belgium, he qualified 11th, although the main celebrations in the Force India pit were for teammate Giancarlo Fisichella's excellent pole position. Sutil finished 11th, while Fisichella finished less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen's race-winning Ferrari.

Sutil at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix

At the Italian Grand Prix, Sutil took his career best qualifying result of second place and finished fourth in the race behind Räikkönen, despite accidentally overshooting his mechanics during his final pit stop, but they suffered only minor injuries. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, his first in Formula One and the first fastest lap recorded for Force India.

In Singapore, Sutil was forced to retire after he collided with Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber, moving into his path as he recovered from a spin. After the race, Sutil was reprimanded by race stewards and fined $20,000 for causing an avoidable accident.^[15]

Sutil during practice for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix

In Japan, Sutil took his second best career qualifying result of fourth, but was given a 5 grid place penalty along with Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso for not slowing down while yellow flags were waved (due to a crash by Sebastien Buemi, who was also demoted five places for attempting to drive his badly damaged Toro Rosso back to the pits) and started the race from eighth on the grid. Sutil finished 13th.

In the wet qualifying session in Brazil, Sutil qualified third, but retired on lap one following a collision with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Out of control on the wet grass outside Turn 5, Trulli hit Sutil, and then slid back onto the track and struck Alonso's Renault, resulting in all three being out of the race. Trulli blamed Sutil for pushing him outside the track at the fifth corner and thus causing the accident, and furiously berated the German at the side of the track in full-view of worldwide TV cameras. This time the stewards took no action against Sutil for the accident, while Trulli was fined $10,000 for his unacceptable behaviour.^[16] The matter was not resolved however, as Sutil and Trulli still argued about the accident two weeks later at the driver's press conference for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.^[17]

In Abu Dhabi, Sutil was unusually off the pace, qualifying only 18th on the grid. Although he overtook several cars during the race, a poor pit strategy resulted in Sutil finishing the race at the back of the field, scrapping with Fisichella (who had joined Ferrari) and Renault's Romain Grosjean. The German eventually finished 17th, 1 lap down but ahead of the Frenchman.

2010[link]

Sutil during practice for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

Sutil was in talks with Force India to renew his contract, and on 27 November 2009, the team announced that the German's contract had been renewed, while test-driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was given a full-time race seat.^[18] Sutil qualified tenth for the first two races of the year, but a collision with Robert Kubica in Bahrain and a mechanical failure in Australia meant he scored no points in either. However, Sutil commented that the performances proved that the team could now score points in dry races.^[19] This comment was backed up by Sutil's fifth-place finish in the following race in Malaysia. In China he finished 11th. In Spain he finished 7th and in Monaco he finished 8th. Sutil again finished in the points in Turkey with a 9th place.

2011[link]

Sutil at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Sutil remained with Force India for 2011, and was joined by DTM champion Paul di Resta. In the first three races of the season, Sutil was out-qualified by di Resta. Sutil finished ninth in the Australian Grand Prix, at the expense of the Sauber cars being disqualified from the race, having finished eleventh on the road. In Malaysia, Sutil finished eleventh, just behind di Resta, and in China, he qualified eleventh. In Monaco, he had his best result of the season, finishing seventh. He retired in Canada after hitting a wall, which resulted in damage to his car's suspension. A ninth place finish in Valencia was followed by eleventh at the British Grand Prix, missing out on the final points-scoring position, held by Jaime Alguersuari, by just 0.6 seconds. At his home race, Sutil took a season best finish of sixth place, after implementing a different strategy to some of the drivers around him on the grid, making just two pit stops to the three made by his rivals.

Despite qualifying in the top ten in Hungary, Sutil could only finish 14th, before another points-scoring finish – finishing seventh, after starting 15th on the grid after an accident in qualifying – at the Belgian Grand Prix. He retired at Monza after his car suffered a hydraulics problem, before an eighth place finish in Singapore, holding off a late-race challenge from Felipe Massa. In Japan, Sutil ran inside the top ten placings for much of the race, but finished the race just outside the points in eleventh place, having been passed by Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg in the closing stages of the race. Another eleventh place followed in Korea, before a ninth place finish in the inaugural race in India.^[20] At the final race in Brazil, Sutil matched his best finish of the season with sixth place, and as a result, moved into ninth place in the final championship standings.^[21]

On 16 December 2011, Force India announced di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg would be their drivers for 2012, leaving Sutil without a seat.^[22]

Shanghai nightclub incident and assault conviction[link]

In the evening following the Chinese Grand Prix, Sutil was involved in an incident with Genii Capital CEO Eric Lux in a nightclub in Shanghai, where he cut Lux in the neck with a champagne glass Sutil himself had broken. On 16 May 2011, Lux announced that he had filed a criminal complaint for physical assault and grievous bodily harm against Sutil.^[23] Force India owner Vijay Mallya backed up Sutil, saying that everyone need not be presumptive about the incident. He also refused to take action against Sutil until the case proceeded further.^[24] Sutil himself apologised for the incident, which he described as unintentional.^[25] On 13 January 2012, German prosecutors announced that Sutil would stand trial over the incident, charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.^[26] Sutil was convicted of the charge on 31 January 2012, for which he received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and was given a €200,000 fine,^[27] to be donated to charity.^[28]

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

Complete Formula BMW ADAC results[link]

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

Complete Formula Three Euroseries results[link]

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

Complete A1 Grand Prix results[link]

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

Complete All-Japan Formula Three results[link]

(key)

Complete Formula One results[link]

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

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adrian Sutil

• Adrian Sutil – Official Site
• Adrian Sutil career statistics
• F1Fanatic.co.uk – Who's Who: Adrian Sutil

Tiago Monteiro Monteiro in 2010, as a WTCC driver Nationality Portuguese Born (1976-07-24) 24 July 1976 (age 35) Porto, Portugal 2012 World Touring Car Championship Debut season 2007 Current team Tuenti Racing Team Car no. 18 Former teams SEAT Sport Starts 114 Wins 4 Poles 3 Fastest laps 4 Best finish 5th in 2010 Previous series 1998–2002 2002 2003 2004 2005–06 French F3 International Formula 3000 Champ Car World Series by Nissan Formula One Born (1976-07-24) 24 July 1976 (age 35) 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: [tiˈaɣu mõˈtɐjɾu]; born 24 July 1976 in Porto, Portugal) is a Portuguese racing driver. He drove for Jordan, Midland and Spyker MF1 teams—all different iterations of the same team as it was bought by new owners during a two year stint as part of the Formula One paddock. In the first year of his Formula One career he set a new record for the most finishes by a driver in their first season (18),^[1] and also achieved a podium finish (3rd place) at the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix. He currently shares the record for the most finishes in a season (18) with Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa, while he also shares the record for most finishes in a row for a rookie (16) with Heikki Kovalainen, who had also achieved this landmark in 2007.

Monteiro raced with the semi-privateer SR Sport team in the 2010 WTCC season driving a SEAT León TDI, following the withdrawal of SEAT Sport at the end of the previous season. For 2011, he again drove for SUNRED Engineering, where he was partnered by rookies Aleksei Dudukalo and Pepe Oriola, as well as 2010 teammates Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth and Gabriele Tarquini. He remains with the team for 2012 under the "Tuenti Racing Team" banner.

Early career[link]

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 competed in the French F3 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 Le Mans 24 Hours 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 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 achieved the fastest lap at Magny-Cours, and took pole position and the fastest lap at Laguna Seca. In 2001, 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 stepped up to the F3000 Championship with the Super Nova team, taking five top-ten finishes 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,^[2] achieving a pole position in Mexico City and leading two races. He finished the year with 10 top-ten finishes, scoring 29 points to rank 15th overall in the championship. Monteiro was signed up as an official Minardi F1 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 behind Heikki Kovalainen, 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[link]

After the Midland Group bought Jordan Grand Prix, Monteiro was announced as a full-time race driver alongside Indian Narain Karthikeyan for the 2005 season.

Monteiro at the controversial 2005 United States GP.

In the United States Grand Prix he achieved his first podium finish in controversial 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 is currently the most successful Portuguese driver in Formula One history. Pedro Lamy had previously held this record before with one point and sixth place achieved at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix with Minardi. Also of note, as of the 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 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 Chinese Grand Prix meant that Monteiro had finished 18 out of the 19 races.

Shortly before the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix, Monteiro suffered toothache that was severe enough to prevent him taking part in the race. However, his team principal Colin Kolles, a qualified dentist, performed emergency root canal surgery, and Monteiro was fit enough to race, which saw him finish 15th following a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya, which resulted in the Colombian running wide on the penultimate lap and losing second place to Fernando Alonso, thus preventing Montoya's McLaren team scoring its first 1–2 finish since the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix.

In 2006 Midland re-signed Monteiro to partner Dutchman Christijan Albers. The two endured a largely uncompetitive season, with their M16 car not even scoring a single point, and the pair were regularly outpaced during the year by Toro Rosso and the occasional Super Aguri. In the 18 races, Monteiro retired from six, with his best finish being at the wet-dry Hungarian Grand Prix where he finished ninth, just outside the points-scoring positions with Albers finishing behind in tenth.

On 21 December 2006, it was announced that Monteiro would not be driving for the newly-renamed Spyker team in 2007. The highly-rated German Adrian Sutil was instead signed on a multi-year contract.^[3] Monteiro had briefly held discussions about a drive for Toro Rosso,^[4] but these hopes were ended when the Faenza outfit confirmed Tonio Liuzzi as a driver at the launch of the STR2 car on 13 February 2007,^[5] followed by Scott Speed at a Bahrain testing session on 24 February, leaving Monteiro without a drive for the season.

WTCC career[link]

Monteiro driving the SEAT León TDI at Brands Hatch in the 2008 WTCC season

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.^[6]

He was forced to wait until the second round of the 2007 season at Zandvoort to make his debut, as the contract was signed a few days before the season opener in Curitiba. However, he took three podium finishes and a pole position during a successful first season in which he was ranked 11th overall.

In 2008 driving the TDi version of the SEAT León, he took his first win at Puebla in Mexico, and later in the season he won the second race on home ground at Estoril in Portugal. These, other points finishes and a fastest lap during the season, saw him finish 12th overall in the final standings, which was won by SEAT team-mate Yvan Muller with the team also achieving the manufacturer's title.

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. 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 SR-Sport team run by SUNRED Engineering, which received significant funding from SEAT Sport.^[7] He achieved five podium finishes during the season, which included wins at his home event in Portimão and later in the year at Valencia. This was by far his most successful season in recent years as he finished in fifth place overall in the drivers' standings.

On 11 February 2011, it was confirmed that he would once again drive for SUNRED Engineering in the forthcoming season, partnering rookies Aleksei Dudukalo and Pepe Oriola, as well as 2010 teammates Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth and 2009 champion Gabriele Tarquini.^[8]

Tiago remains with the team for 2012 under the "Tuenti Racing Team" banner, where he will be joined by 2011 teammate Pepe Oriola and rookie Andrea Barlesi. ^[9]

Team ownership[link]

Monteiro became interested in team ownership during 2008, and held discussions with the BCN Competición team in the GP2 Series on the subject of a possible buy-out.^[10] On 27 November he announced that he had purchased the team and renamed it "Ocean Racing Technology".^[11] The team had a successful first year in 2009, including a win in the Belgian feature race with Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente. The team also competed in the GP2 Asia Series at the end of the year.

V8 Supercars[link]

On 23 April 2010, it was announced that Monteiro would compete as a "guest" driver in the Gold Coast 600 round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Surfers Paradise from 22–24 October 2010. He shared a Holden VE Commodore with Tony D'Alberto, with the car being set up by the Tony D'Alberto Racing team under the Centaur Racing banner.^[12] The pair recorded a DNF and a 17th place finish in their two races.

Personal life[link]

On 16 August 2008, Tiago married Portuguese model Diana Pereira. The couple have a daughter, Mel (born in February 2008) and a son, Noah (born in November 2009).

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

Complete International Formula 3000 results[link]

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

Complete CART results[link]

(key)

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key)

Complete WTCC results[link]

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