Juan Pablo Montoya has insisted he holds no ill feeling towards Max Verstappen and 'couldn't give two f***s' about the reigning world champion despite their recent high-profile spat. The Colombian former Williams and McLaren driver was responding to Verstappen's public criticism last month, when the Red Bull racer slammed Montoya for 'talking so much nonsense' and questioned why he gets work as a pundit.
Origins of the Conflict
The dispute began when Montoya called for drivers who disrespect the sport to be 'parked' and given harsh penalties. He was referring to some drivers, including Verstappen, who had publicly criticised the new generation of cars and likened driving them to playing video games like Mario Kart. Verstappen later said of Montoya: 'I just don't understand why types like that get paid by the management of Formula 1. Surely you don't want someone like that in the paddock who spouts so much rubbish?'
Speaking to the Pit Lane Torque podcast via BetVictor Live Casino, Montoya insisted he was making a general point about all F1 drivers and not singling out Verstappen. 'I said that every driver that mocked the sport should get penalised,' he explained. 'And then they said to me, "Will you penalise Max?" I said, "Yeah, like I would penalise everybody else". I'm not saying don't criticise the sport. If you don't like it, it's okay not to like it. But for me, what I really said was, "Have an opinion, dislike as much as you want, but you don't want to mock the sport".'
Montoya's Response to Verstappen's Attack
Asked if he was surprised by Verstappen's strong public swipe back at him, Montoya said he would have responded in the same way if roles were reversed. 'If somebody goes, "We don't like the way you're doing your interviews and the amount of s**t you write is f*****g terrible", if I came out and said that, you would say, "That f*****g clown is nowhere", wouldn't you? You would. It's the nature of the beast. I'm okay with that. I don't really care. I don't have anything against Max. I said I think the driver should get penalised. And I think if you go to any other sport and you bad-mouth a league or whatever, you're in trouble.'
Montoya drew comparisons to football: 'If you go to a soccer match and you say the referees are a joke and they're probably getting paid by somebody to manipulate the games, how much trouble would you get? "I think the referee did a s****y job", that's okay, it's your opinion. But don't insult the sport by doing so. That's my opinion.'
No Hard Feelings
Montoya emphasised that his comments were not personal. 'If you're a Max fan, you're going to say, "Well, Max put Montoya in his place with that". And if you f***ing listen to it, I couldn't really give two f***s about Max. I love Max, I think he's an amazing driver. If they would ask me the question, "Would you penalise Lando [Norris]?" I would have said yes. "Would you penalise George [Russell]?" Yes. "Would you penalise Sergio [Perez]?" Yes. I don't sugar-coat things, I tell it how it is. I don't have anything against anybody on the grid. I really don't.'
