Juan Pablo Montoya was in action this weekend at Le Mans with DragonSpeed USA, a good time to catch up with the Colombian to chat about this season’s Formula 1 battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Former Williams and McLaren F1 driver, Montoya is cheering for the Red Bull ace to end the monotony of Mercedes domination and stall thus Hamilton’s remarkable run of world titles.
During an interview with Motorsport Netherlands, Montoya was asked about Verstappen and his chances in this intense 2021 F1 world championship; he replied: “Max has done a very good job so far. The hardest thing for him this year is that he is in a new situation.
“He’s always been the hunter, not the one everyone else is hunting. It’s great for him that he’s in this situation right now, but if you’re the one being hunted, you need to start approaching things a little differently.
“For example, drivers who in the past were not so aggressive in a mutual duel, can now suddenly be very aggressive. We have seen that with Lewis. Hopefully, Max can win the championship this year but one way or another, this will be a great experience for him with an eye on the future.”
Montoya points to Silverstone, where Verstappen and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel, where the inevitable collision happened and – irrespective of who did what – the reality was no points on the day for the #33 car while #44 powered to victory.
“At Silverstone, Max had a car that was a lot faster than the Mercedes,” Montoya said. “He could have let Lewis pass and get him back on strategy but the Max we know doesn’t like to come off the gas.
“I would’ve done the exact same thing when I was younger. I wouldn’t have come off the gas either. But with the knowledge and experience I have now, I would, when I know I’m in the faster car.
“However, Max was used to a situation where he was on the attacking side and others lifting-off for him. But now he has found out the hard way that Lewis is no longer lifting for him.”
With Red Bull and Verstappen raising their game to be proper contenders this season, Hamilton has had to do the same and has done so as evidenced by the pummeling he is giving teammate Valtteri Bottas, who has yet shown his ability to take his A-game to the next notch.
Montoya continued: “Lewis always had the best car, so he never had to take any risks. It would fall his way over a whole season anyway. Now we see a very different Lewis, one we haven’t seen in a few years. And that’s positive. We see him pushing like he hasn’t in years.
“He is forced to go deeper than he’s gone in previous years and must mentally and physically tap into kegs he hadn’t tapped in a while. Because it simply wasn’t necessary. So I think Max made sure we got to see a new Lewis because now he has to go a step further. And that’s great for the sport.”
Serial winning has done Mercedes no favours in the popularity stakes, ditto Hamilton. 16 titles in eight years has been great for their fans but the rest, it would be fair to say, have been hankering for a change of the guard with Verstappen’s wind of change gathering momentum his camp is support base is growing in “an enemy of yours is an enemy of ours” kind of way.
But Montoya is wary of what the next 12 rounds will bring and insists it is no slam dunk for Verstappen: “It is difficult to predict how this year will end. The reason that Lewis has been world champion so many times is also that he has already experienced it all. And the Mercedes has become a bit faster again before the summer break.
“I expect that will also influence the further course of the season. Mercedes was genuinely fast in Hungary and I think that came as a surprise to everyone. In any case, I found that surprising.
“I think at Red Bull they should talk less and focus more on what needs to be done on the track. After the incident at Silverstone, they went a bit far in trying to make a point, rather than putting it all behind them and looking forward, which I think was the best thing to do,” suggested Montoya, a seven-time Grand Prix winner.
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August 24, 2021 at 02:00PM
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Montoya: Max made sure we got to see a new Lewis - Grand Prix 247
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