Q: Hi Juan Pablo. You have driven for the greatest team owners during your career. Please would you use just two or three words to describe each one – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske?

Thanks, Andrew Hodgson, UK

JPM: Frank: Friendship and respect. Ron: Organization and unpredictable. Chip: Passionate and loud. Roger: All of the above. Generous, leader, honest, nice and unbelievable.

Q: Juan, do you feel special pressure from Fernando Alonso in Triple Crown chase? Are you excited about the IMSA/WEC alliance? That will for sure be a dream come true for Roger Penske.

Jakub Dradrach, Wroclaw, Poland

JPM: Very excited about the alliance. I just want to have a competitive car. It’s hard to predict where things are going and how rules are going to be. Honestly, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Triple Crown. If the opportunity comes, then I absolutely would do whatever it took to win it. It would be an amazing accomplishment, but it’s not something that keeps me up at night.

Q: A two-part question, starting with Indianapolis Motor Speedway as I share fond memories of being in the infield when you won your second Indy 500 in 2015. Now that Mr. Penske is leading IMS, do you see yourself racing again at the Brickyard (Indy 500, NASCAR)? Maybe even in IMSA?

Also, Penske has historical ties with Le Mans, competing both as driver in 1963 (starting from pole) and as a team owner in 1971 with Mark Donohue and David Hobbs. Sadly both outings at Le Mans ended in mechanical retirements. How important is it for you and Roger to return to Le Mans with the introduction of the LMDh category convergence? Would you see yourself returning to Le Mans in LMP2, in anticipation of the new LMDh cars?

Pablo Diaz, natively from Bogota, Colombia and a Houston, TX resident.

JPM: If IMSA runs there, for sure. Would I like to run the oval again? Absolutely, but likely just in a Cup car for the Brickyard 400. Not sure if I want to get in the Indy 500 again. And it would be amazing if we could go to Le Mans. It is in the hands of Acura if they want to go. Personally speaking I think it would be amazing, and I would love the opportunity to represent Roger, Team Penske and Acura at such a historic race.

Montoya dives inside Michael Schumacher at the Bus Stop during the 2004 Belgian GP. “[Schumacher] was great, don’t get me wrong, but people just got out of the way for him.” Image by Motorsport Images

Larry Parker, Aurora, CO

JPM: The most underrated is difficult to tell. When I was there, no one was bringing any money. Everyone was there because they deserved to be there. Most of the drivers at that time were pretty damn good.

Q: Hi Juan. I have followed your career since day 1 in CART and what a career it’s been. Congratulations! In CART/IndyCar, F1, NASCAR and IMSA, who would you say was the best/toughest competitor? And overall best of the best?

Thanks much,

Rick Hughes, Deer River, MN

JPM: Every series has its own tough competitors. F1 was hard in some ways but easy in others. Same with NASCAR, IndyCar, etc. Michael Schumacher had the respect of a lot of guys back then. He was great, don’t get me wrong, but people just got out of the way for him.

Q: Thanks for answering our questions, Juan Pablo. I’m curious to know what it’s been like watching [son] Sebastian come up through the ranks? Do you see similarities in his driving style and approach to what you were like when you were 15 or 16?

Eric from Ohio

JPM: He is way ahead of where I was at his age. The young kids are so evolved mentally and physically. It’s been amazing to watch, but it is what it takes. He needs to understand that and to see what it takes to get the job done. I’m very proud of him, obviously and look forward to his future.

Q: Hello Juan. One of the things I like about your career is the range of cars you’ve driven. But how hard was it go jump straight from an F1 car to a NASCAR? Was that the hardest jump you’ve made in terms of the work needed to adapt?

Nicholas Priest, UK

JPM: I think coming back to IndyCar was harder that going from F1 to NASCAR. I thought going back to IndyCar was going to be easy because of my past experience, but it was a shocker in how hard it was.