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Juan Pablo Montoya says Max Verstappen should be more ‘responsible’ after the Red Bull driver strongly criticised F1’s new rules during pre-season testing.
Verstappen likened the new generation of F1 cars to ‘Formula E on steroids’ as he railed 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.
F1 bosses contacted Red Bull over Verstappen’s comments to request a meeting. The four-time world champion spoke to Stefano Domenicali about his concerns.
Have the 2026 regulations made F1 worse, with Max Verstappen likening driving the new cars to Formula E?
The drivers had been asked to reserve judgement on the new cars until they had completed a few races, but Verstappen ignited a pre-season debate on the merits of the rule changes.
Max Verstappen must be aware that ‘he represents the product’ in F1
Verstappen was aware that some would be upset by his remarks, but stressed that he was entitled to his own opinion and simply wanted to be honest.
Former F1 driver Montoya accepts that, but says that Verstappen should be doing more to defend F1’s image given his status in the sport.
2025 world champion Lando Norris invited Verstappen to retire if he was unhappy, though he later admitted that he defended the rules to provoke a reaction.
Should F1 bosses have been ‘tougher’ on Max Verstappen after he criticised the 2026 rules?
“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,” Montoya told AS Colombia.
“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.
“Max, when he gets his monthly pay cheque, doesn’t mind racing. If he doesn’t do it, someone else will come along and replace him.
“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 that F1 has moved on from ‘war tank’ cars
Former Williams and McLaren driver Montoya is personally encouraged by what he’s seen of the new cars. Verstappen said the driving experience was better during the ground-effect era, but that’s to be expected given that downforce levels have dropped significantly.
Even Verstappen has welcomed the pivot 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 his results, Montoya thinks his view of the regulations will ultimately be predicated on Red Bull’s success. He feels F1 bosses should have been ‘much tougher’ in their response to the Dutchman.
“The car doesn’t feel cool, but they removed 30% of the grip, so it’s not going to feel the same as 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 to the circuit. That’s going to be good for racing.
“It’s very funny because people said, when they went to the ground effect, that it made no difference to following cars.
“Now that they removed the ground effect and went to another system, they say that you can no longer follow and before you could follow much better.
“You can’t win with heads, tails or anything. You have to focus on what you have, do your job, and that’s it. If he goes out and wins races, he’s not going to complain. If the car is a wreck, he’s going to say the rules are awful.
“If I were F1, I would be much tougher on the people who represent my product.”
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