Four-time World Champion Max Verstappen has become one of Formula 1’s contemporary stars, displaying the kind of hard-fought talent that earned him a ride in the first place. 

Former F1 and IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya is a fan of that hard-charging attitude, and in a recent interview, he pointed out that Verstappen’s driving style keeps his competitors scared.

Juan Pablo Montoya weighs in on Verstappen competition

Even though his fourth title may not have come easy, Max Verstappen still emerged as the most dominant, commanding driver during the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The Dutch racer outperformed the likes of Lando Norris, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc throughout the year — three drivers that former F1 and IndyCar racer Juan Pablo Montoya says all struggle to bring a strong challenge against Verstappen.

Why? Verstappen is aggressive, and he uses that to his advantage when it comes to intimidating the competition.

“Verstappen drives them crazy,” Montoya said of the competition, speaking to Vision4Sport.

“First of all, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes or any. And secondly, he’s comfortable crashing, and the team is happy if he crashes.”

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Montoya pointed out that, in Qatar, Verstappen flashed by the competition without a question, despite securing a one-place grid penalty.

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.’”

Montoya noted that not every driver in the field is like that — certainly not Russell’s 2024 Mercedes teammate.

“I think if that would have been Lewis, he would have been the guy that is happy crashing,” Montoya said.

“And that’s why Lewis is a seven-time world champion. Max has fours 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.

“But 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.

“But 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.”

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