Juan Pablo Montoya exposes Max Verstappen ‘weakness’ in 2025 that could damage his title chances

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Max Verstappen is in the hunt for his fifth consecutive Formula 1 title after winning the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was over 100 points behind Oscar Piastri after his home race at Zandvoort. But since then, thanks to Red Bull continuing to upgrade the RB21, Verstappen is in with a chance of winning the 2025 championship.

Who is going to win the 2025 Formula 1 drivers’ championship?

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Verstappen claimed victory at the Qatar GP after McLaren made an ill-timed strategy call. Piastri and Lando Norris were kept on track during the safety car on lap seven, while the rest of the field took their first of two mandatory pit stops.

Verstappen reacted to McLaren’s strategy after the race, calling it ‘interesting’. He found himself behind the pair on fresh tyres as the safety car pulled into the pits, which ultimately saw him claim his seventh win of the season, taking the title fight to Abu Dhabi.

Juan Pablo Montoya says not having Yuki Tsunoda to help Max Verstappen could ‘hurt’ his title chances

The 28-year-old has leapfrogged Oscar Piastri in the championship standings and sits just 12 points behind Norris heading into the season finale. It is a three-way battle in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

The last time a championship was decided at the Yas Marina Circuit was the infamous 2021 season, where Verstappen controversially beat Lewis Hamilton to his first title after interference from race director Michael Masi.

During that race, Verstappen had then-Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez on hand to defend from Hamilton and allow the Dutchman to gain on him before the late safety car. But as Juan Pablo Montoya notes, in 2025, he does not have the same advantage.

Yuki Tsunoda has been nowhere near Verstappen this season, having struggled to get to grips with the RB21 and having scored just 30 points since joining the team at Suzuka. Montoya thinks this could ‘hurt’ the four-time champion in Abu Dhabi.

“Something I would say that is a weakness at Red Bull is a single car,” he said via F1 TV’s post-race show after the Qatar GP.

“And at this point, Max would really need, when they went against Lewis and they had Checo and Checo played a huge part of that championship, they don’t have that today and I think that might hurt them.”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

How Max Verstappen can derail McLaren and win the 2025 title in Abu Dhabi

Laurent Mekies took a dig at McLaren in Qatar after the mistakes they made with strategy. Heading into Abu Dhabi, Red Bull have the momentum.

Verstappen has the Woking outfit exactly where he wants them, with the pressure clearly being too much to handle for McLaren. Costly errors in recent races have allowed the Dutchman to come back from a seemingly impossible position.

Martin Brundle has praised Verstappen’s mind games in Qatar. He claimed that he does not care about the championship, but this will only add to the pressure on McLaren.

McLaren will not use team orders in Abu Dhabi, which is another advantage to Verstappen. Red Bull can prioritise him, whereas their rivals will split between Norris and Piastri.