Exclusive Juan Pablo Montoya interview

Juan Pablo Montoya

“Monaco is still the definitive Grand Prix on the F1 calendar, but Abu Dhabi is the coolest race we have!”

In an exclusive interview with Vision4Sport, F1 cult hero Juan Pablo Montoya, speaks about the enduring allure of Monaco after news that the iconic race would continue to hold its place in the calendar until at least 2031, and why Abu Dhabi is such a great new addition to the sport. He also gives his thoughts on four-time world champion driver Max Verstappen after a season of thrills and spills that has only pushed the Dutchman’s rivals even closer to the limit, and what does he expect from Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli?

Read his thoughts in full in the interview below:

V4S: An eventful race in Qatar! What did you make of it?

JPM: It was awesome. Lots of drama. The chaos we saw with the new race director is something we live with every weekend in F3 and F2, but at the end of the day, the FIA make the rules. The rules are there for a reason. And the race director is just following the rules. It depends who does it, whether there's a penalty or not and I think the race director was very neutral this week. The rules are very clear. It's interesting because look at the Norris penalty, if you look at it as a standard penalty because he stayed wide open knowing that it's a mirror, it's crazy to get a penalty for it. However, the reason the yellow flag is there is very simple, if you get a yellow flag, you need to get out, you need to do something about it, make a reaction, manoeuvre. Whether you do enough or not is questionable, but you have to have the intent to do it.

V4S: Max said he lost respect for George Russell and his behaviour. What are your thoughts?

JPM: I agree! That was pretty unnecessary.

V4S: Monaco’s deal with F1 has just been extended to 2031. That's good news, isn't it?

JPM: It's the most symbolic event, whether you like it or not. I'm sure a lot of people want to say Silverstone is, but I'm sorry, it's not. Everything about Monaco is unbelievable, everything about Monaco is so special. I mean, it's my home as well, so it's really cool. But it's really, really cool. Especially in ‘26 with the smaller cars, I think it's going to look a lot better. And that's going to be in June as well, isn't it? That's a new thing and I think that's a good thing.

V4S: Do you think it's important that Monaco and Indianapolis don't clash?

JPM: Indycar is so big on its own. They’d never really clash because Indy is at night. When I raced F1, watching Indy was cool because it was at 6 pm or 7 pm.

V4S: Is Monaco your favourite track?

JPM: Yeah! In my time, it was the only street course. It was so cool, especially when the V10s were so insanely fast on the straights. It was so cool and it's crazy to understand how far you could go with it. 

V4S: Abu Dhabi is the new kid on the block, it's going to be the final. Has it become a good end to the season race and a venue?

JPM: It's really good. The place is really good. The track is really good. The racing is good. Everything about it is really cool and it's a great place, because you end up with a night race, which works really well for most of the world. Racing under the lights is so cool. 

V4S: Are you ready for the big finale in Abu Dhabi between Ferrari, McClaren and Red Bull?

JPM: I think the Constructors’ Championship is pretty exciting. Max, could change that championship pretty quickly. He wants to win it and if he's going against McLaren, he's going for it, because the McLaren needs to get out of the way if they are to win the Constructors'. I think McLaren, in their mind, know they just got to run around and bring the cars home.

V4S: Where does that all leave Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship?

JPM: Funnily enough, by them finishing third, which seems likely, they're going to get more wind tunnel time and everything for the ‘26 car. So, is it that bad having Checo there? They have the world champion and they have more wind tunnel time! What they're losing by not winning the Constructors, they're probably making up with Checo’s merchandise, Red Bull sales and the money he's bringing. So where is the downside…..you have a team dedicated to one driver! Red Bull wouldn’t bring in a Carlos Sainz type, because the sparks are going to fly and I'm not sure they'll want that.

V4S: Can we see fireworks in Abu Dhabi then?

JPM: With Lando especially and the McLaren guys in Abu Dhabi, if Max is behind them, he is going to dive bomb in there and if they turn, they're going to crash. They cannot crash, because they need the points and Max knows that. 

V4S: How is Max regarded by his fellow drivers do you think?

He drives them crazy! First of all, he doesn't make a lot of mistakes, if any. Secondly, he's comfortable crashing, and the team is happy if he crashes. If you look at turn one, the start after what happened with the stewards as soon as Max got the jump, George wasn't going to try to steer around the outside because he thought they would collide. George said it, “I thought we were going to crash!” So, in his mind, as soon as the lights went, George gave up. He said to himself, ‘I can't do this.’

V4S: Does that not show how intimidating a presence Max is on the grid?

JPM: Yeah, maybe, but I think if that would have been Lewis, he would have been the guy that is happy crashing. That's why Lewis is a seven-time world champion. Max has four and nobody else does. Yeah, yeah, because that's what it takes and you know, if you're going against Fernando, on a chance of winning a race, Fernando crashes too. However, if you put George, George ain’t crashing; Lando is not crashing; Piastri might; Carlos might; Leclerc wouldn't and then he’d complain on his radio that he has the most unfair thing on the planet with his car………the same as Lando! It's their nature, but at the same time, Charles and Lando are very similar, where they have amazing ultimate speed that when things line up, they can win the races. They have enough speed to get the job done, but they're not the guy that is going to go wheel to wheel and come out ahead. 

V4S: Do they need to toughen up then or change their approach?

JPM: The problem is when you change your approach, you start crashing and then when you start crashing people start looking at you differently. It’s always a fine balance. From the beginning everybody knew Max is freakin’ willing to go as far as anybody…..a little bit like I did from day one! Other drivers know that I'm there, we're going to crash so, they think they better not crash. 

V4S: Why do you think Antonelli might struggle at Mercedes with George Russell?

Mercedes have put him in a really bad situation, the expectations are really high. It's a big gamble. I think Antonelli without the hype would have been a really good choice, but the problem is when you put in somebody to replace Lewis, you need to justify it. I think he wanted to justify it to all the sponsors and everybody, why he's making that decision. You know, we could have had Sainz , but we didn't take Sainz because, we went for Antonelli. Toto has said this kid is the future, It's going to be amazing, as he’s so fast in the test and he's done this, he's done that. All of a sudden, you look at him in F2, it's okay, but he hasn't been great. In Mexico he was pretty average, 1.3 seconds off of George. So he pushes, he crashes and if he doesn't push, it's slow.

V4S: Bernie Ecclestone is selling his vintage F1 car collection? Is that the right thing to do?

JPM: I didn't know he had that many. He’s always had something going on in his back pocket!

V4S: What did you make of Bernie as the ringmaster in his day?

JPM: He made F1 what it is today with TV. He understood what they had in their hands. He was the right man at the right time. At the same time, what Liberty's done has gone a step further than Bernie could ever imagine. I don't think Bernie would ever have imagined F1 as it is now. It's a much better experience for the fans and for the guests and everything than what it used to be.