Beachside vibes and being Mr Worldwide: Sebastián Montoya on calling Miami home

9 May 2023

Whilst his dad raced in Formula 1, Sebastián Montoya easily found a home at the racetrack. But away from there, where did the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver grow up?

Raring to return to action in Imola next week, we caught up with the Red Bull junior to find out more about where he considers home and the best spots to see.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?

“So, this is a funny story because basically I was born in Miami, but I wasn't actually living in Miami because my dad was racing in Formula 1. So, we actually lived in Monaco and then when he started racing in NASCAR, I moved to Miami where I was born – which is kind of funny because we never thought we actually were going to live there. I grew up in Miami basically my whole life until around 2018/2019. When I was around 13/14 years old, I started to race more and more in Europe.

“I also spent a lot of time in Colombia and around my culture. I think it’s really cool because I’m not really American, I’m like half-and-half. People like to call me Mr. Worldwide because I wasn’t born and raised in one place, and I’ve been travelling my whole life. I was born on the 11th April and then 10 days after my birthday, I was already flying to testing at Silverstone and then I went to Melbourne. The first time I actually touched grass was in Bahrain, so I had an interesting childhood.

“Basically, I would consider Miami my hometown because that’s where I had all my friends when I was a child. I love Miami because it not only has the American culture, but also a hybrid of all Latino culture as well. So, you’ve got a bit of everything – Cuban, Colombian, Brazilian and Argentian. It’s a really cool place."

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT TO SOMEONE?

“It’s fun, maybe a little bit interesting, but mostly it’s fun – especially if you like going to the beach. I honestly grew up in the ocean, I love the sea and any water-sports and anything that I can do. I used to love running over there, biking, just being outside is so nice because it’s not the typical outside that you can really see sometimes when you go up into the mountains and stuff.

“It's more of the outside where you go running next to the beach, where you go hiking or you go through the Everglades. For example, my dad and I used to do a lot of biking and we would bike from our house to the Everglades and then come back. It’s really cool cause you see alligators and you just never let them catch you because that's not fun! Miami is so nice because every time I go, it's just like a warm welcome, not only from the people but also the weather. I just love it!"

WHAT LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN THERE?

“It's quite interesting because you can find a bit of like Russian, but then also Italian and obviously English. A lot of people actually speak Spanish as their first language, which is quite funny. It’s also quite cool because you never know what you're going to find, which is good and bad at the same time. It's such a mixture of cultures that the people are really nice, everyone's really happy to be there. The weather is lovely, so everyone seems to always be enjoying what they're doing.”

WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE?

“I grew up in Miami for such a long time, so the humidity is not really that bad, but it's really humid. It's like 100% humidity, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the weather is so nice. Recently it's been getting colder, sometimes in the winter, which is not nice. Once it got to like 16/15°C and you have a hoodie on, you're freezing and you're thinking it’s going to snow. Usually in Miami you just walk out in sandals, shorts, T-shirts, sunglasses and you say this is lovely.”

WHERE SHOULD TOURISTS VISIT?

“Probably Miami Beach, because that's where everyone wants to go. I grew up mostly in the downtown area and that's really nice because there's a lot of good Mexican and Italian restaurants. There are really good steakhouses as well and I love steak. So, I'd probably say downtown Miami would be where I would take them because that's the best I know, but Miami Beach is probably the most touristy attraction.”

FAVOURITE PLACE TO GO FOR FOOD?

“In downtown they have this little cafe called La Boulangerie, which is really good. They serve breakfast and we used to have one close to where we lived. I think every Saturday or Sunday that we were home and I wasn't racing somewhere, we would go to eat there with my mom. Actually, I went a couple months ago, and I actually ate breakfast there with my mom every single day for the time we were there.