Monteiro started racing in the World Touring Car Championship in 2007 with Seat Sport, and remained with the Spanish manufacturer until 2012, when he switched to the new Honda team late in the season.

[1] He managed to recover from the career-threatening injuries to return full-time to the new WTCR series in 2019, which saw him achieve a victory in his home race.

Born in Porto, Monteiro was inspired by his father to begin racing, and drove in the 1997 French Porsche Carrera Cup.

In the International Renault Finals held at Estoril, Monteiro claimed the win after taking pole position and the fastest lap of the race.

A one-off entry in the Formula France series saw him win both races, and in the Andros Trophy, he did one fastest lap with a best finishing position of fourth.

Monteiro was signed up as an official Minardi F1 test driver for the 2004 season, but also competed in the Nissan World Series with Carlin Motorsport.

After the Midland Group bought Jordan Grand Prix, Monteiro was announced as a full-time race driver alongside Indian Narain Karthikeyan for the 2005 season.

[5] At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled dignitaries were present, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited.

Pedro Lamy had previously held this record before with one point and sixth place achieved at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix with Minardi.

Shortly before the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix, Monteiro suffered a toothache that was severe enough to prevent him taking part in the race.

However, his team principal Colin Kolles, a qualified dentist, performed emergency root canal surgery and Monteiro was cleared to race.

The two endured a largely uncompetitive season, with their M16 car failing to score a single point, and the pair were regularly outpaced during the year by Toro Rosso and occasionally Super Aguri.

In 2008 driving the TDi version of the SEAT León, he took his first win at Puebla in Mexico, and later in the season he won the second race on home ground at Estoril in Portugal.

However, on 19 February 2010, it was announced that he would partner 2009 teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gene along with Tom Coronel in the renamed SR-Sport team run by Sunred Engineering, which received significant funding from SEAT Sport.

On 11 February 2011, it was confirmed that he would once again drive for Sunred Engineering in the forthcoming season, partnering rookies Aleksei Dudukalo and Pepe Oriola, as well as 2010 teammates Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth and 2009 champion Gabriele Tarquini.

In 2017, after taking two wins and five other podium finishes, he was leading the championship comfortably after 12 races, until he sustained serious injuries in an accident caused by a brake failure at Barcelona, Spain in September during testing.

He would return to the sport at Suzuka, Japan in November 2018, for the penultimate round of the WTCR calendar, the same track where he made his debut for Honda in 2012 for the WTCC.

He was set for a full season comeback in 2019 and switch teams from Boutsen Ginion Racing to KCMG, driving the Honda Civic Type R TCR.

[25] On 23 April 2010, it was announced that Monteiro would compete as a "guest" driver in the Gold Coast 600 round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Surfers Paradise from 22–24 October 2010.