Rage explained behind “blind or stupid” Michael Schumacher insult

Juan Pablo Montoya has explained his anger at Michael Schumacher after their infamous “blind or stupid” altercation.

Ferrari’s Schumacher aggressively held off Williams’ Montoya on the opening lap at the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix.

Schumacher ended up winning, but third-placed Montoya later hit out: “You’ve got to be blind or stupid to not see me!”

Montoya has since reflected on the Beyond The Grid podcast: “They were quicker than us. But we were quick and on fresh tyres.

“To pass him, I had to go straight away. He drove me off the track but I was okay.

“I would’ve done the same thing!

“I was okay with it. If he said in the interview ‘I drove him off the track’ then I would have been okay with it.

“But he said ‘I didn’t see him’.

“Everybody thinks and talks but I talk and think! I surprise everybody else around me!”

'People thought I was crazy, it worked'

Montoya expressed his annoyance that fellow drivers would not battle the dominant Schumacher during his Ferrari pomp.

“The annoying thing with Michael? Nobody raced him,” claimed Montoya.

“When he came from the back it was ‘ah, Michael is coming, get out of the way’.

“That p****** me off.

“It was like ‘oh, it’s Michael, don’t f*** with Michael’. He had so much respect.

“My approach to racing? I was such an asshole when racing. People thought I was crazy, and it worked.

“When I threw the car in, they knew I wouldn’t get out of the way. You had two choices - you give me room, or we crash!

“The only time I talked to Michael was when I raced for BMW, and he was with Ferrari.

“We were invited to a party at the Nurburgring after the race.

“It was me, Michael and Rubens. The three of us got drunk, and that was it!”