The popularity of Formula 1 around the globe is constantly increasing and drivers are constantly looking to grow their fanbase in new markets.
Franco Colapinto’s impact on F1’s popularity in Argentina when he made his Williams debut highlights what can happen when an underappreciated market is suddenly given some attention.
It’s likely that his fanbase – and more importantly his sponsors – played a role in Alpine deciding to sign Colapinto as a reserve driver for the 2025 season.
However, there are also plenty of countries that have produced Formula 1 drivers that no longer have a racer to support.
Finland won’t have a driver on the grid in 2025 for the first time since the start of the 1989 campaign after Valtteri Bottas lost his Sauber seat, although JJ Lehto raced for Onyx for the final four Grand Prix of that season.
Another country that hasn’t had a Formula 1 driver for some time is Colombia.
Juan Pablo Montoya is the latest and most successful Colombian to have ever raced in F1, having followed in the footsteps of Ricardo Londono and Roberto Guerrero in the 1980s.
Montoya’s F1 career ended in 2006, but speaking on the W Radio Colombia YouTube channel, he admitted that one unlikely current driver has plenty of fans in his home country.
Juan Pablo Montoya says Mercedes star George Russell is ‘super loved’ in Colombia
The host of the podcast Valentina Pena told the story of an interview she did with Mercedes driver George Russell where she told him that she hosted a podcast with Montoya.
Russell told Pena that his older brother used to use a Montoya-inspired helmet and the first one that he had was the same design.
Pena went on to say that the video went viral in Colombia with people suddenly becoming big fans of the £12m-a-year star and talking about the incident, Montoya said: “The history of the helmet, I knew it already.
“Russell came out with a Montoya helmet without knowing what it was!
READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya believes Formula 1 is secretly working behind the scenes to make ‘important’ driver change happen in 2025
“He had actually followed me in all of the races, but the person who was a big fan was his brother.
“And I think that in honour of his brother, he ran with the helmet that his brother used with my design!
“It was quite funny, but no the truth is that George is super loved and I had a very good experience there with all the people at Adidas.”
George Russell paid tribute to Juan Pablo Montoya during Formula 1’s 1000th race
The 2019 Chinese Grand Prix was the 1000th official Formula 1 race and was won by Lewis Hamilton while he was driving for Mercedes.
Formula 1 hosted several events around the Grand Prix to celebrate the milestone, although it turned out to be the last race in Shanghai until last season when Zhou Guanyu finally got to compete in front of his home crowd.
Russell was in his first season as an F1 driver with Williams and alongside Robert Kubica was regularly fighting near the back of the grid.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height
However, with his special helmet for the race, Russell used a design that partially incorporated Montoya’s look.
The now-Mercedes driver is unlikely to remember the race too fondly, finishing P16 and only beating Kubica as the only two drivers to finish two laps down on the leaders.
F1 is considering a race in Argentina and alongside the longstanding event in Brazil, and the Mexico City Grand Prix they would offer fans in Colombia the best chance to see Russell in action.
