Montoya is never one to mince his words, so it was no surprise that when he visited our Miami offices ahead of the season opener he gave his honest (but also expert) opinion about the new season!
A former F1 driver himself, with seven victories to his name for sport’s heavyweights BMW Williams and McLaren, JPM predicts a multi-team battle at the front in 2022, as Ferrari aims to take on Mercedes and Red Bull following an encouraging performance in pre-season testing.
Montoya is convinced that George Russell will do a fine job at Mercedes, despite having seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton on the other side of the garage. Likewise, he remains convinced of Sergio Perez’s potential at Red Bull, where he will again team up with reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Montoya also thinks that F1’s efforts to improve the quality of racing by simplifying various aspects of the car, including the front wings, will pay dividends, as attested by the initial reaction from the drivers in both Bahrain and Barcelona.
He also approved of how F1’s new breed of cars are a ‘handful’ to drive, putting the onus on those behind the wheel to get the best performance out of them.
Naturally, the Colombian was asked about a potential entry from Andretti, a team he competed against for several years during his foray into the IndyCar series in 2014-16.
Montoya, 46, also spoke in length about the possibility of an American driver entering F1 for the first time since Alexander Rossi’s part campaign in 2015, with both Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward being linked to grand prix drives.
