Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned the friendship between Max Verstappen and Gabriel Bortoleto, claiming that the pair wouldn’t be such good friends if they were fighting in equally competitive cars. Montoya also claimed that Verstappen wouldn’t hesitate to put Bortoleto in the “barriers” if he was battling him on track.
Verstappen and Bortoleto had become good friends since even before the latter joined the F1 grid in 2025. But since the Brazilian’s debut in the series, the pair have become even closer, with Bortoleto even praising Verstappen for helping him through his rookie year in F1.
But former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned their friendship, claiming that the two would not be good friends if Bortoleto was also driving in competitive cars. While speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast, Montoya shared his surprise at the close friendships between the drivers on the current driver, as he said:
“That’s really surprising to me. You look and see that everyone is very good friends and goes out to dinner together. But that’s why Max does well. Because he doesn’t get into that game,”
When reminded of Verstappen’s relationship with Bortoleto, Montoya replied, saying:
“What if Bortoleto was in a competitive car, would that friendship remain the same? You think that if Max is pressured by Bortoleto on the track, he would say, ‘He’s my friend, I’m not going to send him into the barriers’? I don’t believe that!”
Juan Pablo Montoya has been extremely critical of Max Verstappen recently, taking issue with the Dutchman’s criticism of the 2026 F1 regulations. In a recent rant, Montoya even suggested that the 4x world champion should be handed penalty points on his super license for “disrespecting” the sport via his criticism.
Juan Pablo Montoya questions praise for Max Verstappen’s lap 1 save at the Miami GP
Juan Pablo Montoya has also questioned people praising Max Verstappen’s lap 1 save at the Miami GP, claiming that the moment was more down to luck than skill in his opinion. The Red Bull driver received praise from many fans and experts for the save, even including Martin Brundle on Sky Sports commentary.
But the maneuver did not impress Montoya, who, while speaking on the aforementioned podcast, said it was down to luck more than anything else.
“For me, everybody was saying Max was unbelievable, how he controlled his spin. I think that was pure luck,” said Montoya.
But I don’t have anything against Max, excuse me,” he added.
Max Verstappen lost control of his RB22 while battling Charles Leclerc for the lead in the first few corners, but did a full 360° turn and stayed on the track before continuing the race. The part which was undeniably lucky was that none of the drivers behind him collided in the back of his car as he managed to escape the whole incident without any damage.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
