Formula 1 has been urged to ‘show the door’ to champions Max Verstappen and Lando Norris over the disrespect they have shown the sport in recent weeks.
Red Bull driver Verstappen and McLaren’s Norris have been amongst the most outspoken since the introduction of the new rules for this season, predominantly F1’s shift towards greater electrification of the power unit.
The majority of the drivers have voiced concerns over the levels of management required for their cars, not just during a grand prix, but also over a qualifying lap.
Verstappen, who initially voiced his ire in pre-season testing in Bahrain, was unrelenting in his criticism during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, describing it as “Mario Kart” and that the sport was “a joke”.
Norris, meanwhile, highlighted the fact that the current crop of drivers in F1 had been forced to forget everything they had learned through their single-seater careers, and the sport had become a formula that “probably not something any of us grew up wanting to do”.
Seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya feels Verstappen and Norris have been completely disrespectful in voicing such disparaging remarks, and that they should be taught a lesson by F1.
“At some point, Formula 1 needs to do what the sports world in the United States does: for people who don’t respect the sport, there’s the door,” Montoya said to AS Colombia.
“They can leave or get a fine, so they truly learn to respect what they’re doing. That’s what I would do.”
Montoya acknowledges that the drivers are entitled to their opinion, however, he feels some have gone too far in criticising.
“It’s fine for people to have an opinion,” he added. “I’m not saying they have to like it, but mocking Formula 1 and comparing it to Mario Kart, that shouldn’t be accepted by Formula 1.”