Montoya: “For F1 it is important that Verstappen wins races, he will ensure that he is in the right car”

Juancho’s prediction Max Verstappen and Red Bull are once again protagonists in the Miami GP. The Dutchman placed on the third row in the Sprint Qualifying and in the Sprint he finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, then in Qualifying he even pushed himself to the front row alongside Antonelli. Verstappen’s race immediately started uphill with the spin at the start which – although controlled to the maximum – relegated him to the middle of the group with tires certainly not in good condition. The Safety Car allowed Red Bull to bet on the immediate switch to hard tyres, but the rain did not arrive and Verstappen thus found himself giving up ground towards the end of the race, still finishing in fifth position, the best result of the season at the end of an absolutely dignified performance. According to Juan Pablo Montoya, Verstappen is too important an asset for F1 to let the Dutchman struggle without being able to aspire to climb to the top step of the podium and for this reason he expects that Verstappen’s move for 2027 will be the right one: “McLaren spoke with Verstappen last year, but decided that he couldn’t afford what Max was asking for – said Montoya reached by Betpack – a year ago Max could afford to shoot any amount, but now I believe that he would take a pay cut to get a competitive car. Verstappen just wants to win and has to deal with the fact that he isn’t in a position to do so, it’s the first time and it’s not easy. Max has so much power and such a large following that it’s important that Max wins races.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-05-07 15:00:00