Juan Pablo Montoya says Max Verstappen should take more care with his words after the Red Bull driver’s public criticism of Formula 1’s new rules during pre-season testing.
Verstappen compared the new era of F1 cars to ‘Formula E on steroids’ while pushing back against the new energy management protocols. Drivers have been forced to use unnatural techniques, including aggressive downshifts and lift-and-coast, to charge up their battery during qualifying laps.
Red Bull were approached by F1 bosses, who asked for a meeting with Verstappen. The four-time world champion later spoke directly with Stefano Domenicali to share his concerns.
While drivers had been encouraged to hold off on judging the new cars until after a few races, Verstappen’s comments kicked off early debate about the changes even before the season started.
Max Verstappen told he must be aware that ‘he represents the product’ in F1
Verstappen knew his comments wouldn’t land well with everyone, but stood by them, saying he was just being honest about how he felt.
Montoya understands that viewpoint, but believes Verstappen’s role as one of F1’s most prominent faces comes with added responsibility to protect the sport’s reputation.
Lando Norris, the 2025 world champion, responded by suggesting Verstappen could walk away if he wasn’t happy. Though Norris later admitted that his defence of the rules was partly meant to stir things up.
Speaking to AS Colombia, Montoya said: “Being a world champion like Max is – I know he can say whatever he wants – one has to be more responsible because he’s one of the leading figures in this sport.”
“It’s fine that he has an opinion, but at the same time he represents the product. Like Lando told him, if you don’t like it, don’t race.
“If Max publicly says ‘this is a disaster’ and people are going to think ‘this is a disaster’. It’s going to be different, but I don’t think it’s bad.”
Juan Pablo Montoya says F1 has moved on from ‘war tank’ cars
Montoya, who drove for Williams and McLaren during his time in F1, is personally encouraged by what he’s seen of the new cars so far. Verstappen claimed the driving experience was better during the ground-effect era, but that’s to be expected given how much downforce levels have dropped.
Even Verstappen has welcomed the switch to smaller cars, and Montoya is optimistic that racing will improve on street circuits as a result. Drivers have raised concerns about overtaking, but it was already difficult in 2025.
While Verstappen says he values the driving experience over results, Montoya believes Red Bull’s performance will ultimately shape his opinion of the regulations. He also thinks F1 bosses should have been ‘much tougher’ in their response to Verstappen’s comments.
“The car doesn’t feel cool, but they removed 30% of the grip, so it’s not going to feel like last year,” said Montoya. “The last one was a 400m-long war tank! This car, although it’s big, is more manageable.
“[On street circuits] it’s going to be much better because the car will be more in proportion with the circuit. That’s going to be good for racing.”
“It’s very funny because people said when they went to ground effect that it made no difference following cars.
“Now that they removed ground effect and went to another system, they say you can no longer follow and before you could follow much better.
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