Juan Pablo Montoya says one of Max Verstappen’s F1 teammates has been completely forgotten

Follow us on Google Discover

Max Verstappen is surely Formula 1’s ultimate career-killer. Since Daniel Ricciardo left willingly at the end of 2018, all five of his teammates have lost their seats.

Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson were both demoted midway through the season, with Lawson lasting just two races.

It’s telling that Alex Albon, Verstappen’s second-longest serving teammate since 2019, only made it to 26 races.

🔢 Rank Max Verstappen’s five teammates since Daniel Ricciardo

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Sergio Perez tops that list by far (90), but when his fourth and final season came to an end, he dropped off the grid altogether. Yuki Tsunoda has now suffered the same fate.

Juan Pablo Montoya says Yuki Tsunoda has been forgotten already

Tsunoda has become Red Bull’s reserve driver for 2026 after Isack Hadjar took his seat alongside Verstappen. Still only 25, he hopes to return to the grid in 2027.

But F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya, who was speaking to AS Colombia, thinks Tsunoda has already been forgotten, only weeks after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Tsunoda is one of only 81 drivers in the sport’s history to take part in over 100 Grands Prix. Only two drivers (Adrian Sutil and Pierluigi Martini) have made more appearances without scoring a podium.

Which F1 driver was unfairly forgotten?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

“Look at how sad Formula 1 is,” Montoya commented. “People don’t even think about Yuki anymore. It hasn’t even been a month since the last race – a month and a week. Yuki isn’t even on anyone’s radar anymore.

“That’s the reality of this sport. There are those who are heroes one day and zeroes the next. When you’re a hero, you have to take advantage of it.”

Yuki Tsunoda’s engineer shares the reason he lost his seat

Tsunoda’s camp are targeting Alpine and Haas as they assess potential routes back to F1. Encouragingly, Albon and Perez have both returned after falling victim to Verstappen.

Albon has already repaired his reputation and will hope to win races with Williams in F1’s new era, while Perez has a chance to end his career on a high after joining Cadillac.

According to his engineer Richard Wood, Tsunoda has the ‘talent’ to be on the grid but was simply ‘unlucky’ during the 2025 season.

Tsunoda finished 17th in the championship and didn’t put together a single three-race scoring streak, but there is growing evidence of a larger problem with Red Bull’s second drivers.