The daughter of Formula One legend Juan Pablo Montoya has landed an F2 driver in trouble after her dress broke pit lane regulations.
Paulina Montoya, an influencer with more than 40,000 Instagram followers, was a guest for F2 team Prema in Madrid over the weekend.
But the 20-year-old, who was supporting her driver-brother Sebastian, has landed her sibling a fine of £428 due to her attire on the Friday.
Montoya was wearing a white dress, but regulations stipulate that team and technical staff must wear long trousers in the pit lane.
Prema raced off to the commissioners, arguing that the social media star was a guest of the team and therefore exempt from the rules.
But the governors hit back by citing the FIA’s International Sporting Code, which defines all guests as ‘participants’, and so the fine stood.
Paulina Montoya – daughter of F1 legend Juan Pablo – got in trouble for wearing this dress in the F2 pit lane
The regulations say that she had to wear long trousers in the pit lane – the dress does not count
Father Juan Pblo raced in F1 between 2001 and 2006, winning seven Grands Prix
Young Montoya took the slap on the wrist with good cheer, switching to white trousers the next day and writing on Instagram: ‘Appropriate attire.’
On Sunday, the floor-length dress was back, but she did not get so close to any of the cars.
An FIA statement read: ‘The Stewards summoned (Document 19) and heard the team representative. They examined video evidence. The team representative explained that the woman wearing shorts was a guest of the team and not an operational team personnel member.
‘The Race Director reminded the following to all the Competitors in Competition Notes in Madrid (art 11.1). Teams are reminded that guests are included in the category as defined in Article 20 of the ISC. Additionally, Article 9.15 of the ISC states that the competitor is responsible for all acts or omissions on the part of any person to whom the competitor has allowed access to the reserved area.
‘Furthermore, ‘Article 22.15 of the Sporting Regulations states all team and technical personnel must wear long trousers in the pit lane during all practice sessions and the races. Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that a team member of Car 11 near the car was not wearing long trousers during the session and therefore decided to fine the team.’
Montoya Sr raced for Williams and then McLaren in F1 between 2001 and 2006, winning seven races and finishing as high as third in the Drivers’ Championship on two occasions.
He has also raced in IndyCar and the NASCAR Cup Series.
His son, Sebastian, 21, is in his second season competing for Prema in F2 and currently sits 16th in the standings.
