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Montoya finds criticism of Verstappen unfair: 'Russell would get away with it'
- Savannah Lenz
Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya is now a fan of the new FIA penalties. He thinks that the new penalties for alleged driver misconduct take away from the interest in the sport. Montoya also thinks that fans want to see real people, not some perfectly made PR "princesses".
On the topic of alleged driver misconduct, Montoya recalls the community service Max Verstappen had to do. In a conversation with CasinoApps, he talks about how important rest and recovery days are for F1 drivers. This, he says is what makes community service the perfect punishment for the drivers. "When you’re a driver and you’re the one travelling, doing a lot of hard work, any day off is worth having. If you lose that to do community service, then believe me, it really sucks. I had to travel all the way to Costa Rica because of it once."
Montoya: 'Do we want to see personalities or princesses in F1?'
While he believes that fair and consistent punishments work, he also questions punishing someone based on their actions, which are correlated with their personality. “Do you want to see drivers’ personalities, or do you want to see little princesses? Do you want to see rough guys being angry, fighting the other guy with passion and love, putting everything on the line?"
Montoya adds, "I understand because of the young audience F1 has, but nowadays, they all hear it and use it in school, in kindergarten. There’s a line you can draw for everything".
Montoya: 'The reaction to Russell would be different than to Verstappen'
According to Montoya, drivers are treated differently based on the media's perception of them. The former McLaren and Williams driver said, “For example, if it had been George Russell who had sworn, the reaction would’ve been very different compared to if it had been Max. You could hear when Charles did it, everyone shrugged and let it go. When Max did it, everyone treated him like he was a terrible person.”
Montoya insists, "That’s why the penalties would be fairer if they were community service or other things that provide more benefit to the sport without hindering the driver as much.”
This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder.
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