Juan Pablo Montoya was a very successful racing driver from Colombia. He has a bunch of victories in Indy car racing, Formula One, as well as in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is among the three drivers who have won races in all three racing series.
Recently, he expressed his strong views about two of the top drivers in the sport, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. According to Montoya, Verstappen, a two-time world champion, has not shown any significant improvement compared to two years ago. He also mentioned that Hamilton tends to complain about his Mercedes when he doesn’t win races.
Montoya dismisses Hamilton’s claims of Mercedes’ disadvantage
Last season, Max Verstappen achieved a remarkable 15 race wins in a season and overturned the biggest deficit to win a World title. This year, he continues to excel as he has aided Red Bull in breaking McLaren’s 1988 record for the most consecutive wins. With Red Bull securing 13 wins, they have surpassed McLaren’s previous record of 11.
But according to him, although Max is a talented driver, his current success is largely due to the pace of his car. There has been no significant improvement in Verstappen’s performance over the past two years, with the only difference being the increased speed of his car. He believes that there are at least seven or eight drivers in today’s field who could potentially win a World championship if given the same opportunity as Verstappen, including Sergio Perez.
The Colombian also didn’t hold back when it came to Hamilton. He also voiced his opinion on the comments made by Lewis suggesting the Redbull drivers had it easier. “When we were fast, we weren’t that fast” and that “even when we were dominant, we had close battles”.
According to Planet F1, Montoya attributes Hamilton’s success to the “best car” on the grid, he added on this by saying, “It’s always very nice to complain when you don’t win, but when Lewis won he said that the car didn’t give him any advantage,” said the 47-year-old. “Actually Mercedes’ advantage was as big as what Red Bull currently has.
Lewis holds record for the most race wins in F1 history
Lewis Hamilton, a 38-year-old British driver, holds the distinguished title of being the most successful driver in the history of F1. With a remarkable 103 wins, he has secured his place as a legendary figure in the sport. Hamilton’s first win was in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, and his most recent victory occurred at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
In addition to his impressive win record, Hamilton has also achieved 194 podium finishes and 103 pole positions out of his 318 race starts. He has won seven world championships, earning the title in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. No other driver has accomplished the feat of reaching 100 race wins in the sport’s history.
Hamilton shares the honour of holding seven world championship titles with the legendary Michael Schumacher also Schumacher’s highest wins of 91 races follow Hamilton’s record of 103.
What are your thoughts on the bold claims made against Lewis? Make sure to let us know in the comments section.
