Legendary F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya is convinced Max Verstappen will fall short in his pursuit of a fifth straight world championship triumph in 2025.
Verstappen made it four straight title wins with Red Bull in 2024, but was pushed in the second half of the season by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
McLaren are expected to be strong again this year, while seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has joined Ferrari after ending his 12-season stay at Mercedes.
Montoya – who won seven Grand Prix across six seasons between 2001 and 2006 – feels the warning signs are there for Red Bull after they stumbled over the finish line last year, and believes Hamilton will jump ahead of Verstappen on the grid over the coming months.
‘Verstappen is not going to be a problem for Lewis this year,’ Montoya said.
‘I would be surprised if Red Bull came out to fight like in recent years.’
Verstappen and Hamilton famously went head to head in the 2021 season, with the Dutchman eventually prevailing in a dramatic final race after overtaking his rival on the last lap.
He has largely had things his own way ever since, but has let his emotions get the better of him on occasions when races have not gone to plan.
Montoya feels a lack of progress at Red Bull could frustrate the defending champion, and lead to him losing his cool, allowing Hamilton to take advantage.
The Colombian added: ‘You just start moving sideways or even backwards.
‘If you keep going based on wrong principles, you’re never going to get out of the hole. And that hole can be very deep, that’s the problem.
‘Max doesn’t like to lose, and Max is a guy who would rather crash than let himself be beaten.
‘We saw it at the end of last year, when he did things that surprised people. We were wondering: “Why did he do that?”
‘When he went up against Lewis [to end Hamilton’s dominance] and took no prisoners, everyone thought: “Oh, great. Finally someone is standing up to Hamilton”.
‘Now the positions are reversed.’
F1 testing is set to begin in Bahrain this week before the opening race of the season takes place in Australia on March 16.
