Exclusive with Juan Pablo Montoya: Verstappen won’t leave F1, Ferrari should prioritise Hamilton over Leclerc and Russell will win Melbourne GP

Speaking exclusively to BetBrothers, seven-time Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya believes Max Verstappen is going through a ‘phase’ and won’t leave Formula 1, despite the Dutchman’s interest in other motorsports. The 50-year-old believes Ferrari, if they are competitive this season, should prioritise Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc to win the championship, as it would be a better story for their brand and image. However, Montoya thinks the Mercedes could dominate this season and it will start with a one-two podium finish at the Melbourne GP.

Read the full interview below:

What are your predictions for the Melbourne GP? Who will end up on podium?

The question is, how much power can the cars develop in qualifying, and how much power can they sustain in the races? Can you really run the full race at full power? The manufacturer who has the best reliability will make the biggest difference in the race, it will be critical.

Do you expect we’ll see a few crashes whilst the drivers are still getting used to the new cars? 

F1 drivers have complained, but there was low grip on the cars last year as well. The race pace against the qualifying pace is a huge difference. At full fuel, the cars will have 30 kilos more weight, that will make an impact of how big the degradation is to the tyres. When you have those extra 30 kilos, you’re easily a second-a-lap slower. It will be a lot harder on the tyres.

For me, it will be interesting to see how the drivers manage the energy. In the first few laps of the race, drivers may run out of energy and the lights will be flashing. I think this could lead to some erratic moves. I don’t think you’ll see a quiet race, one person will use more energy than another on a part of the track.

When the person in front of you loses their energy, you have to pass them, but you’ll then have to regain that energy to stay ahead. Someone will get it really wrong, and someone will get it really right.

It’s cool having a bit of an unknown, it’s good for the sport. The people who get it right will say the new cars are amazing, while those who get it wrong will complain. Drivers will complain the cars aren’t as stable as they used to be, but what do you expect with 30 per cent less grip?

The casual viewer who hasn’t watched any testing will be seeing the wings open on the new cars for the first time, and they’ll be amazed. It’s all good attention for the sport.

How important is starting the first race well for the rest of the season? We saw Lando Norris win, who became champion, and Liam Lawson DNF’d and lost his Red Bull seat.

It’s nice to have a good start to the season, starting well in Melbourne will give you a bit of relief mentally. If you get a DNF because something breaks, it’s not a big deal. But if you crash, then you add pressure onto yourself for the rest of the season.

But, you can look at Isack Hadjar, he crashed out before the race started and now he’s in a Red Bull seat, so it can’t be that bad.

Will there be a lot of pressure on Isack Hadjar’s shoulders because of his start at last year’s Melbourne GP? 

What will be interesting is to see how comfortable Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are with the new Red Bull, and how far apart they are from each other. What has happened lately is that the Red Bull drivers have been really far apart, and the team tend to develop the car however Max wants it. If you have a different driving style and the team develops the car to Max’s style, it will get harder for you every week.

We’ve seen with Checo Perez before, you can start as good or better than Max, but as he becomes more comfortable with the car, the gap behind him increases.

If the car is not competitive, will Max for sure leave? If Red Bull think Max is going to leave, there could be a chance Red Bull start prioritising Hadjar, similar to what happened with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton when he left Mercedes. Are Red Bull willing to do that?

If the Red Bull comes good yet again, could we see Max Verstappen stay there for the long term? Or will there still be rumours of him switching teams for next year?

Max has done a very good job to shut down rumours, telling everyone he’s happy where he is. But, we all know if the Red Bull isn’t competitive and the Mercedes dominates, he will try to go to Mercedes.

Is it quite rare for one of the best drivers in history to be a one-man team throughout their career? 

I don’t think Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull his whole career, but right now, Max is going through the same phase Lewis Hamilton went through about 10 years ago. Lewis said he wasn’t liking F1 anymore and he wanted to pursue a music career, 10 years later, he’s still racing.

Max likes F1 too much. When he tries racing elsewhere, he’ll realise he’s in a great position and Red Bull can be very flexible for him. Going to another team will take him out of his bubble, he’s comfortable where he is. He doesn’t need the money, he just wants to win the races. As we’ve seen with Lewis, there’s no guarantees moving teams brings success.

George Russell is the bookies’ favourite to win the championship this year – how exciting would a title challenge between him and Max Verstappen be? Especially with all the clashes they’ve had in the past…

What happens if George Russell becomes world champion and the Red Bull is really slow? Will Mercedes sign Verstappen to be his teammate? That will be a cool, crazy story.

Red Bull, for a lot of years, have always prepared themselves for a new engine. But they lost Honda, and everyone thought Aston Martin could be the next Red Bull. You would never have guessed Honda and Adrian Newey would struggle ahead of the new year of cars.

Whoever dominates at the beginning of the year, I think they will have the edge for the rest of the season. I will be surprised to see if Red Bull and Mercedes, or more teams, are a similar pace. But, I think there will be one team clear ahead of the others. What does happen, teams do catch up with the leading team throughout the season, we’ll see.

Does George Russell already have that in-built confidence that Lando Norris has to develop last year?

George Russell has driven for enough seasons to mature as a racer, but it’s not the same experience as being at the top, leading the championship. That comes with a whole other pressure, and it’s a different story. I think the pressure can get to him.

What more can Lawrence Stroll do to boost Aston Martin’s chances of winning a championship? 

It’s the reality of the sport and business. Lawrence Stroll can do everything right, but if something doesn’t work out, it is what it is. I think Stroll has done well to set up the process, now he just has to be patient and believe in the process. He needs to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

Is it dangerous to have hope for Ferrari, or do they actually have a chance this year?

We’ll see who can run a good consistent level of power throughout the race, and who is doing better at executing power delivery. I think the smarter drivers will make the power work to their advantage. If you know you’re quicker than someone at a certain point in the track, you can use that point to save up the battery and pass the driver ahead elsewhere.

Lewis Hamilton looks happy as ever, which is a big contrast to last year, do you think he can still compete for a world title? 

Last year was horrible for Lewis Hamilton, the working and driving experience at Ferrari was very different for him. It makes a big difference when you’re comfortable and have the right people around you.

Lewis had to go through that pain and had tough times last year, but I think he’ll be much better and smoother this season. A transition to another team can take more than two years, so I guess we’ll see.

Leclerc is coming into his prime years as an F1 driver, he could be Hamilton’s main problem if the Ferrari are competing for the championship? 

If Ferrari has a winning car, would they rather have Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton as their champion? Who would be better for Ferrari because of their name and popularity? That would be Lewis.

For Ferrari, the story is way better if Lewis becomes the world champion. Charles is 100% capable of becoming a world champion, but the question is, how will the politics work at that point.

Would Charles Leclerc leave Ferrari if he feels they are prioritising Lewis Hamilton?

Would Charles Leclerc leave if Ferrari have a winning car? Knowing the other guy will be leaving the year after? Probably not. He’ll need to be guaranteed to be prioritised over Lewis Hamilton in the next few years. I would take that deal, it’s the hard reality of Formula 1.

If the car is unstable on entry, which Charles can deal with but where Lewis may struggle, Ferrari will have to make a decision whether they help develop the car towards Lewis or Charles’ needs. It will be a very hard decision. It will be a company decision, as it will probably decide who wins a world championship.

How do you see McLaren doing? 

McLaren will be up there with the best cars this season. Even if they’re missing something and aren’t winning races, they have such a good structure that they can develop the car over the next few years and give themselves another chance of being world champions again. Something McLaren have had in the last few years is being efficient with their processes. Someone like Williams struggles with those processes.

Is there a chance Oscar Piastri will come back as a better and more ruthless driver this year? Does Lando Norris need to be worried? 

Lando Norris will still have to deliver on the track, despite being world champion. If Oscar Piastri is beating him, he’ll have to figure out why that is.

Mark Webber did a very good job with Oscar, and I think he’s put the right people around him to maximise his opportunities of becoming a world champion.

Lando knows he can perform because he’s won the championship, but it will get hard if Oscar starts beating him. It can get in Lando’s head. I think we saw it get in both of their heads last year. McLaren are one of the fairest teams in F1, same as Mercedes, so we’ll see how that plays out this year.