Montoya: Formula 1 drivers would struggle at the Daytona 500

According to Juan Pablo Montoya, a veteran of both disciplines, the answer is far from straightforward. The Colombian, who has experience in Formula 1, NASCAR, and IndyCar, believes that F1 drivers would struggle to adapt to NASCAR’s unique demands. More so the series' flagship event: The Daytona 500

Montoya outlined the fundamental differences between Formula 1 and NASCAR: "It's just a different culture. It's like IndyCar. IndyCar is a really nice blend of drivers from everywhere. IndyCar is getting more popular and keeps growing.

"You can't compare one with the other. You can't just say F1 drivers are so much better. If you bring the best F1 driver to NASCAR and you put him in an oval, at the beginning he's going to struggle. It doesn't matter how good you are. They're going to struggle because it's very different. And the bad habits of the car are very different. They're going to go out and they're going to say, 'This car has no grip. The car is sh*t.'"

Montoya emphasised that NASCAR’s demands differ significantly from those in Formula 1: "It is a different animal, it's a different tool. Right now, F1 is all about the tyres and keeping the tyres in the window and managing the tyres and everything. Whereas in other championships, it's all about how fast you can drive them, how aggressive you can be, and how hard you can push."

The former Williams and McLaren driver also highlighted the complexities of restrictor plate racing at Daytona: "Daytona 500 is always fun. People in Europe don't understand restrictor plate racing. That’s where between the throttle body and the engine they put a restrictor plate with smaller holes. They do this to limit the horsepower, so the cars go from making like 750 horsepower to 400.

"You're doing 190 miles an hour by yourself, with the throttle wide open, and 200 mph in the pack. If you lose the pack of competing cars, you lose between one and two seconds a lap.

"Being in the pack is crazy. So that's why you run two or three cars wide, and you're pushing your lane to go forward. It's so amazingly misunderstood. I don't think anybody really understands how challenging and physically and mentally demanding Daytona is."

Montoya further elaborated on the unique nature of NASCAR’s close-quarters racing, where drivers rely on each other to succeed: "Although NASCAR is very different to Formula 1 it is equally challenging. It's so crazy because you need to rely on other people to be able to win. Everyone pushing to win is what makes the race great.

As for the beasts to drive, Montoya said: "The cars are big and heavy, so when you lose the car, and when they hit you, it's really hard to keep the car straight. And because they have really small brakes, if somebody crashes, you can't stop the car even if you wanted to.

"You either avoid it because you changed lanes or you're going to crash. There's no, ‘Wow, that was close.’ I used to say it's like tenpin bowling with race cars.

"That's what makes the race great. Everybody's pushing, everybody's going at it. When a big collision happens, it takes 20 cars out of the grid because they're going so fast in such big and heavy cars that you can't stop them," added the 49-year-old Colombian, a seven-time Grand Prix winner in 94 F1 starts

Montoya’s insights reinforce the view that while Formula 1 drivers are among the most skilled in the world, success in NASCAR—particularly at Daytona—requires a different set of skills, patience, and a deep understanding of pack racing.

The 67th running of the Daytona 500 takes place today, at Daytona Motor Speedway in Florida. Starting from pole is the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Chase Briscoe, with #2 Austin Cindric in a Team Penske Ford. 41 cars are set to start the race. (