Fast and feisty, Juan Pablo was seen in the early 2000s as the driver most likely to topple Michael Schumacher. For all his speed, it took the Colombian quite a while to reach Formula One. After racing karts in Colombia, he shone in the US Barber Saab series in 1994, raced in Britain in 1995 then stepped up to Formula Three in 1996. Moving up to Formula 3000 was when he really showed his talent and he not only finished as runner-up, to Ricardo Zonta in 1997, but was also signed by Williams as its test driver. He beat Nick Heidfeld to the 1998 Formula 3000 title but was sent to the USA, winning the Champ Car title at his first attempt.

He then won the Indy 500 in 2000 before Williams had a seat free for him in 2001 and he raced to his first grand prix win, at Monza. He moved up from sixth overall in 2001 to third overall in 2002, albeit not winning once in a year that yielded seven poles. Third again in 2003, Juan Pablo did at least win - at Monaco and Hockenheim - as Williams hit form, but he could have been champion, as a drive-through penalty at Indianapolis cost him dear. As it was, his engine failure when leading the Suzuka finale was academic. He knew through 2004 that he was moving on to McLaren and signed out with a win in Brazil.

A shoulder injury interrupted 2005, but Juan Pablo bounced back and won three times, matching Raikkonen for speed. In 2006, though, Juan Pablo lived the first half of the year in Raikkonen's shadow before knocking the pair of them out at the start of the US Grand Prix. He then announced his retirement, claiming disenchantment with Formula One and is now enjoying NASCAR stock racing in the USA.

Reproduced from The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One published by Carlton Books