That season, the Formula 1 podium finisher secured Honda's first top-three WTCC finish as a manufacturer on just its third outing in Macau, and he has since added nine victories as a Honda driver. He became the first Portuguese driver to lead an FIA world championship in 2016, and was favourite to win the WTCC title the following season until a testing crash prevented him from realising that goal. Monteiro made his racing return in the WTCR, which succeeded the WTCC, at Suzuka in 2018 and completed his recovery with an emotional victory in front of his home crowd in Vila Real in 2019 - winning again two years later in the season-opening race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.