When Sebastián Montoya joined forces with Campos Racing in December 2023, he said, “I am really excited to be joining Campos Racing for the upcoming FIA Formula 3 season.”
“To be honest, we have had a nice learning curve immediately in testing after making my comeback to the team. Macau didn’t exactly bring us the result we were expecting. But the potential is there, and we just need to maximize our options. We know our car is strong enough to score points on a regular basis, and hopefully, we will be able to fight for podiums and wins.”
Rollercoaster start to the 2024 season
Montoya started the season in Bahrain with the team, finishing 18th in the Sprint Race. He followed it up with 17th in the Feature Race. However, Montoya showed off his skills in the 2024 Melbourne F3 round where he placed 8th in the Sprint Race and 6th in the Feature Race. This race weekend showed his balance and skill as he placed within the top ten and brought points for the team alongside his teammates Oliver Goethe and Mari Boya.
In Imola’s Sprint Race, Montoya placed 25th which marked his lowest finishing position of the season. However, he redeemed himself in the Feature Race, placing 10th and scoring points once again for the team.
He placed 18th in Monaco’s Sprint Race once again falling behind. He built on this and was able to get a higher position during the Feature Race, which was 15th.
A series of retirements
In Barcelona, his fellow teammate — Mari Boya, was able to take his maiden win at Barcelona. Montoya, however, retired due to a collision with Gabriele Minì. This cut short the Spaniard’s race as he left the track, completing only a few laps of the race.
He continued the weekend, placing 12th in the Feature Race, although lower than his result in Melbourne it was still better than Monaco.
During the 2024 F3 Spielberg round, Montoya faced a weekend filled with difficulties. He retired in both the Sprint and Feature Race. During the Sprint Race, Montoya collided with Alex Dunne and clashed in the barriers at Turn 4. In the Feature Race, Montoya was a victim of the hit from Tim Tramnitz at Turn 3 causing him to retire to the pits. Montoya was at 6th at the end of the first lap but lost it all due to this collision.
Patience and Consistency
The 2024 F3 Silverstone round brought a good result during the Sprint where Montoya placed 7th. He scored better than his teammates in this race as Goethe retired and Boya placed 16th. However, this triumph was cut short as he retired in Silverstone’s Feature Race due to the collision by a spinning Joshua Dufek. He retired in Lap 9 and was 12th in the race when this occurred.
In Hungary, he placed 19th in both the Feature and Sprint Races. The team in general had a bad outcome that weekend as all three drivers faced difficulties with pace. However, Montoya was able to redeem himself in the season when he placed 5th at Spa.
He placed a position higher than teammate Goethe at the Sprint in Spa-Francorchamps. This was then followed by his first and last podium of the season. He placed 2nd in the Feature Race at Spa, achieving a podium with Campos Racing.
Ending the season on a high
In Monza, Montoya had performed extremely well on track and placed second initially. While he was happy to have continued the streak, this was short-lived. The driver was penalized for forcing Santiago Ramos off the track during their fight for the podium place. Therefore, Montoya ended the day with a drop to 11th place due to the 5-second penalty.
He ended his season with a low position of P21 as Montoya and Boya were both involved in an incident in the first chicane. This caused Montoya to drop down the grid as he moved to the pits while Boya retired.
This ended his Formula 3 2024 season, where the Spaniard placed 17th overall with 40 points.
A new series with a new team
Montoya will not spend another season in F3. Instead, he is set to make his F2 debut with Prema Racing. He will be driving alongside Gabriele Minì.
Montoya has shown consistency and patience every step of his journey, and it is undoubtedly that he will have a stellar 2025 season.
