Juan Pablo Montoya urges Isack Hadjar to push back on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull demand at Belgian GP

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F1 pundit Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Isack Hadjar to take a stand against a Max Verstappen demand that Red Bull have catered to at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen was furious with Red Bull after his crash at the previous round of racing in Silverstone, after the RB22’s innovative ‘Macarena’ style rear wing was deemed to be at fault for the four-time world champion’s shunt at the second consecutive race weekend.

In fact, Verstappen was “angrier” than ever before in Red Bull’s hospitality building following his return to the paddock, after it emerged that he had raised concerns over the rear wing in the aftermath of his crash during qualifying in Austria.

Verstappen’s fury has led Red Bull to take action at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, but Juan Pablo Montoya believes Isack Hadjar must now take some action of his own, considering he is yet to run into any issues with the highly efficient rear wing.

• READ MORE: Red Bull have chosen the best and worst F1 race to finally listen to Max Verstappen

Juan Pablo Montoya urges Isack Hadjar to take a ‘risk’ on Red Bull’s ‘Macarena’ wing at Spa

Speaking via F1TV’s Weekend Warm-Up, the seven-time Grand Prix winner was asked for his thoughts on Red Bull’s decision to revert to their older specification of rear wing at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

While it may be the right thing to do at such a notoriously dangerous circuit, Montoya strongly believes that Hadjar should push back on Verstappen’s demand to remove it.

“If you’re Hadjar, you should be pushing the team and saying, ‘I’ll risk it,'” the Colombian said. “That would have been me. If I were racing, and they said that they don’t feel comfortable, well, I’m comfortable, I’m okay.

“If it’s an advantage, if it’s maybe a tenth of a second or tenth and a half, I would take it. I mean, yes, if you’re Max, you’ve had two issues. Maybe the way Max drives it is more aggressive, and that’s causing the issues. He’s probably pushing more and going further.”

According to a report by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, the FIA may have actually intervened at Red Bull and ‘forced’ them to backtrack to their earlier design of rear wing.

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton near-miss shows Ferrari must remove ‘Macarena’ wing like Red Bull

Both of Verstappen’s incidents could have resulted in serious injuries, which prompted the sport’s governing body to open an investigation into the matter.

The report also rubbished rumours that Ferrari were also under investigation due to the similarities between their rear wing and Red Bull’s, highlighting how the Scuderia are yet to be faced with any issues from the component.