Tiago
Monteiro

Tiago Monteiro was born in Porto on 24 July 1976, and it was his father who got him interested in racing. He began in 1997 in the French Porsche Carrera Cup, winning the B class and taking the rookie award. He then moved to French Formula Three, finishing 12th in 1998 and sixth in 1999, before taking second place in the championship in both 2000 and 2001. In 1999 he also finished 17th overall at the Le Mans 24 Hours and sixth in the GT2 class. In 2002 he drove for Super Nova in International Formula 3000 and ended the year 12th, and he had his first run in a Formula One car that year, testing for Renault in Barcelona. A Champ Car season with Fittipaldi Dingman Racing followed in 2003, which he finished 15th. In 2004 he was a Minardi test driver and, with Carlin Motorsport, took second place in the World Series by Nissan behind Heikki Kovalainen.

Monteiro made his Formula One debut with Jordan in 2005, partnering Narain Karthikeyan. He started all 19 races and finished 16th in the world championship. At the United States Grand Prix, every team on Michelin tyres withdrew before the start because of safety concerns, leaving only six cars on the grid. Monteiro came home third, making him the first Portuguese driver on a Formula One podium. It remained his only one, and he scored seven championship points in total.

In 2006 he stayed with the team, now racing as Midland, alongside Christijan Albers. The car failed to score all year, and Monteiro's best result was ninth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Over 18 races he finished 21st in the standings. For 2007 the team, by then called Spyker, signed Adrian Sutil instead, and Monteiro was left without a Formula One seat. He ended with 37 starts, no wins and no pole positions.

From 2007 Monteiro raced in the World Touring Car Championship, starting with SEAT. He won at Puebla and Estoril in 2008 and, with victories at Portimão and Valencia, finished fifth overall in 2010. He moved to Honda in 2012, helped the manufacturer win its 2013 title and finished third in the standings in 2016. In 2017 he led the championship after 12 races, but a crash during testing in Barcelona ended his season. In 2019 he was back for a full season, now in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), and won his home round in Portugal. In 2019 and 2020 he also won the TCR class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He stayed in the series until it ended in 2022. His son Noah is also a racing driver.

Source: Wikipedia, “Tiago Monteiro”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.