In an era where political correctness and sponsor-coached responses are the norm, Juan Pablo Montoya, the feisty Colombian, has managed to throw a curve ball at the buttoned down corporate world of F1 and carve out a considerable following for himself with his take-no-prisoners approach and bullshit-free reactions to interviewers. But, as I’ve learned, that can be a double edged sword.

The irony here is, I was one of those that pledged allegiance to JPM for his brutal approach, and yet today, it would be that very trait that would cost him my loyalty. JPM is a very personable character but can be extremely moody. When he pours on the charm, even grown men can go weak at the knees. When he spits the dummy... well, it ain't a pretty sight. During the course of the event JPM seemed to be in high spirits, joking and carrying on with a handful of people. He did, however, snap unnecessarily at a few enthusiastic fans that had brought along more than a couple of items to be signed.

Seeing that this was a scheduled PR exercise and a press conference, it was very unexpected and disappointing when he shrugged off some fans and told me off for taking pictures of him, as if I was paparazzi that had climbed over his fence and taken pictures of him in his home relaxing with his family. I was not invading his personal space; I was simply doing my job and I was not doing anything different from the other 100 or so photographers that were their snapping away all day.

Obviously this does not take away from his abilities as a race car driver. In the end, as long as you’re winning, anything is excusable. As the saying goes, where does a 500 pound Gorilla sleep? Anywhere it wants to. As of this writing, JPM has managed a timely win in Brazil before getting shuttled off to his new team, Mclaren, with a renewed hope of bagging that elusive World Championship.

Castrol, a principal sponsor of the Williams F1 team, had invited some dealers along for a driver day with (at the time) the number 3 driver in the world. The idea was to give your average Joe a chance to pit their driving skills with one of the sharpest Formula One drivers on the grid. The results were of course predictable but still utterly enjoyable.

JPM trounced mercilessly on his opponents, be them male or female, young or old. It demonstrated his unwavering commitment to winning at all costs. There was a pre qualifying session held to narrow down the participants. 5 of the best times got to race against JPM. But when it came to the race itself, JPM complained that the steering wheel was too sensitive and asked for the handheld controller instead. During the course of the day, JPM entertained questions from the press and some Castrol delegates with the help of a Chinese translator. He spoke candidly about his hobbies, his foundation for helping children and his favorite car in his garage.

For a company that has its roots firmly planted in motorsports, it was fabulous to see Castrol Philippines giving its dealers a once in a lifetime opportunity to go toe to toe with the fastest man alive. At the end of the day, if you want to really get down to it – personalities aside, JPM isn’t paid to be nice to photographers; he’s paid solely to be quick – and that is something he has delivered in shovel loads. Remember Monza 02, anyone? Niceties are just a bonus. Looking back, for me, the event goes much further than the signed caps and bags; it creates much-needed publicity for a sport that Filipino’s can naturally excel at. We always hear about how good our local drivers are and why we’re not at the sharp end of the grid yet. Well, Castrol have been putting their money where their mouths are.

Through Castrol Philippines’ staunch support, some of our local motorsports teams have already gone international (Asian F3, Formula BMW Asia) and are inching closer to that pipeline dream of putting a Filipino in the cockpit of an F1 car. After all, if you can’t bring F1 to the Philippines… then at least bring the Filipino closer to F1.

*** Rather than hog the whole experience to myself, I decided days before the event to post an opportunity on a local internet forum for Montoya fans to ask him some questions through me. Although I was not able to accommodate all the questions, I was able to fire off a few before JPM’s mood headed south.