Sebastián Montoya
Sebastián "Sebas" Montoya Freydell is a Colombian and American racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Prema Racing.
The son of the former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, he is a former member of the Red Bull Junior Team. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2023 and 2024 for Hitech Pulse-Eight and Campos Racing respectively.
Career
Karting career
Montoya started his competitive karting career in 2013, racing in the Rotax Micro Max class of the Florida Winter Tour when he was just eight years old. He proceeded to race in that series for the following four years, where he achieved a best result of fifth in 2016. Montoya then moved to Europe to compete in the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship in 2017. Montoya spent a total of three years in the European Karting scene, twice driving in the Karting World Championship and three times in the European Championship. In his time in karts Montoya only won one championship at an international level; this being the Rok the Rio competition in 2018.Formula 4
2020
In 2020, Montoya made his single-seater debut with Prema Powerteam, racing full-time in the Italian F4 Championship and competing in two rounds of the ADAC F4 Championship. Unfortunately for Montoya, he was unable to score any podiums throughout the year, and finished eleventh in his main campaign, behind his three teammates Gabriele Minì, Dino Beganovic and Gabriel Bortoleto.2021
Montoya re-signed with Prema for the 2021 season, returning to the Italian and German F4 series. He would run a part-time campaign in the latter, finishing second thrice in the six races he competed in, putting him ninth in the standings, ahead of three full-time competitors. Montoya's Italian campaign would be just as fruitful: netting nine podiums but no wins, Montoya finished fourth at the end of the year, being narrowly beaten by teammate Kirill Smal due to a spin in safety car conditions at the final race of the season in Monza.Formula Regional
2022
At the start of 2022 Montoya made his debut in the Formula Regional Asian Championship with Mumbai Falcons India Racing. After scoring pole position for the first race, Montoya scored his first car racing win of his career in a lights-to-flag victory. Montoya took his second win during the third round at the Dubai Autodrome, also from pole position. He was ultimately unable to finish the season, but ended the championship in seventh place with 92 points.File:FREC 2022 Spielberg Nr. 58.jpg|thumb|right|Montoya racing in the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship at the Red Bull Ring.
Montoya moved up to the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship with Prema Racing. Montoya started his season strongly, taking two eighth places and a fourth place in the opening three races. Just before his weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, Montoya announced that he had started receiving backing and sponsorship from Red Bull, marking him as a Red Bull athlete. However, he failed to score a single point during the final eight races, and finished 13th in the standings with 44 points.
2023
At the start of 2023, Montoya competed the full season in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Hitech Grand Prix. Montoya finished the season 21st in the standings, scoring only two points finishes.FIA Formula 3 Championship
2022
Due to Oliver Goethe's Euroformula Open commitments, Montoya replaced him and made his first F3 appearance in Zandvoort, driving for Campos Racing whilst Hunter Yeany recovered from a wrist injury. Following free practice in which he ended 17th, Montoya stated that "the car is a massive step" and "it's been quite good though." He qualified seventh as a red flag thwarted his rivals attempts to improve their lap times. Montoya finished both races in eighth place, being the only one in the Campos team to score points during the weekend. Montoya was ranked 21st in the final standings classification.In late September, Montoya partook in the post-season test that year with Hitech Grand Prix at Jerez.
2023
In January 2023, Montoya was announced as a Hitech Pulse-Eight driver for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship. The season opener in Bahrain proved successful, advancing to tenth in the sprint race from 14th. He continued to score points in the feature race, securing ninth place. In Melbourne, Montoya qualified on reverse pole in 12th. He would finish in third after losing the lead to Franco Colapinto and Zak O'Sullivan, but nevertheless it was his maiden podium in F3. However, race winner Colapinto was disqualified post-race, promoted Montoya to second place. In the feature race, he was involved in a race-ending collision with Nikola Tsolov, where the Colombian's suspension broke upon contact. In Monaco, Montoya showed promising pace, qualifying sixth and ending seventh in the sprint race. The feature race looked set for another good result, however when fighting over fifth place with Caio Collet, he made contact and damaged his front wing. Montoya would be penalised for the incident and was later disqualified post-race after a left tyre was found to have been used on the wrong side during his pit stop.In Barcelona, Montoya fought with Paul Aron for fourth until they made contact, the former coming out with a puncture and dropping to the back of the field, and was later given a penalty for failing to follow race director's instructions, which was to go on the left of the bollards. He made up for lost points during the feature race, by finishing seventh. In Austria, after finishing ninth in the sprint, Montoya charged up from 15th to contending for a podium position. On the final lap, Montoya tried to snatch third place from Colapinto, but collided with him instead and fell to tenth, before being further penalised for that incident. In Silverstone, Montoya led the race early on from reverse pole for the first 13 laps, and was hit from behind by Taylor Barnard following the safety car restart, which dropped him out of the top 10. He eventually crossed the line in eighth place. He finished to eleventh place in the feature race, before benefitting two positions from Collet and Tommy Smith's penalties to move into tenth place.
File:70th MACAU GRAND PRIX.jpg|right|thumb|Montoya racing at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix with Campos Racing
Hungary was the first weekend where he failed to score points, but rebounded in Spa-Francorchamps with sixth place in the feature race, having started on the correct wet tyres on a damp track. In Monza, he ended his season in disappointment after being punted into the gravel and was out. Overall, Montoya ended the season in a disappointing 16th place in the standings, with 37 points. During the post-season test, he tested for Campos Racing for the Jerez. He then took part in the Macau Grand Prix for the team, but was unable to make the start and finished the race a few laps down.
2024
Montoya reunited with Campos Racing for the 2024 season, where he partners Mari Boya and fellow Red Bull junior Oliver Goethe. Failing to score points in Bahrain after qualifying 29th due to ill health, but earned his first points of the season with a charge to eighth from 15th in the sprint race. He made an even bigger comeback on Sunday, finishing in sixth place. Another comeback came in the Imola feature race, where Montoya charged from 23rd all the way to tenth. Montoya qualified in the top 10 for the first time in Barcelona, but had his lap time deleted and was relegated to 27th. He made comebacks in both races, finishing 12th in the feature but collided with Gabriele Minì in the earlier sprint which took both out. A strong qualifying followed with eighth in Austria, but had a heavy crash during the sprint race after making contact with Alex Dunne. His miserable weekend continued as Tim Tramnitz hit him from behind early on, causing Montoya to retire.In Silverstone, Montoya qualified 17th, but again made one of his customary comebacks to finish seventh. In the feature race, Montoya was unlucky to be a victim of a collision from a spinning Joshua Dufek. He earned his best F3 qualifying result in Spa-Francorchamps securing fourth. In the sprint race, Montoya fought multiple battles and finished eighth, but was promoted to fifth following post-race penalties. A strong start in the feature race moved him to second, but was ultimately to challenge leader Callum Voisin and ultimately settled on taking his first podium of the year. Qualifying sixth for the Monza finale, Montoya fought hard with Santiago Ramos in the sprint to finish in second again. However, Montoya was penalised and demoted to 11th due to forcing Ramos off-track. Contact with teammate Boya deprived Montoya of points in the feature race. The Colombian finished the year 17th in the standings, scoring 40 points.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
2025
In December 2024, it was announced that Montoya would be promoted to Formula 2 with Prema Racing, partnering his former Formula 3 teammate Gabriele Minì. He began the season with points, making upplaces to finish in sixth place during the Melbourne sprint race. This was followed by two rounds with points owing to issues of his control, but surprised in Imola with a front row start. Unfortunately for Montoya, he stalled during the formation lap and was made to start from the pits, he was still able to recover and finish in eighth. Montoya finished sixth in the Monaco sprint and was set to start fifth on Sunday, but once again stalled during the formation lap. He took this setback to his advantage however, as he avoided a first lap carnage and eventually made his way to third, scoring his first F2 podium. He continued his momentum with another front row start during qualifying in Barcelona. He collided with teammate Minì in a tight battle and fell to the back, but utilised his new tyres after a pit stop to improve to fifth, only to penalised and dropped to eleventh due to the aforementioned collision. In the feature race, he maintained his position to secure his second successive podium.He qualified just outside the top 10 in Austria, but took advantage of a last lap collision ahead in the sprint, finishing in fifth. In the feature race, he fell back at the start following contact with a rival, but impressively charged forward to fourth place despite a bent steering wheel. He earned his third podium of the season during the Silverstone sprint race, having to pass Kush Maini mid-race for second. His positive weekend continued the next day, maintaining his position of fifth place in the feature race. Speaking about his good momentum, Montoya stated that a change in mentality made him "enjoy driving a lot more". However, his form dipped over the next few rounds, failing to score until the Monza feature race, coming back to ninth from 21st on the grid despite floor damage. In the Baku sprint race, Montoya was set for a return to the rostrum after a strong start saw him up to second, but car overheating from debris slowed him with three laps to go and he dropped out of the points. He finished tenth the next day after being compromised by a double stack in the pits.
In Qatar, Montoya secured fourth in the sprint after Nikola Tsolov ahead was pushed wide on the last lap, and followed it up with fifth in the feature race. Despite qualifying in the top 5 in Abu Dhabi, he concluded the season on a disappointing note as a stall dropped him to the back during the sprint, while retired from the feature race due to a technical issue. Montoya finished twelfth in the drivers' standings with three points and 91 points, ahead of teammate Minì.