Former Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya slammed Max Verstappen’s complaints about the state of F1, telling the former champion to leave the sport if he’s bothered by the new regulations.
Verstappen blasted the sport’s new era as a “joke” after retiring from the Chinese Grand Prix with a power ​unit problem.
“It’s playing Mario Kart. This is not racing,” he said.
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Montoya said comments like that “shouldn’t be accepted” and the F1 should show disgruntled drivers the door, or issue heavy fines,
“At some point, Formula 1 has to do what sports in the United States do and for people who disrespect the sport, there’s the door,” he told AS Colombia.
“They can leave or be fined so they really learn to respect what they’re doing. I would do that.
“It’s fine for people to have an opinion. 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.”
Montoya also had some choice words for Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who expressed concern with safety and the 2026 regulations.
Max Verstappen. Supplied
The former F1 driver said the drivers’ complaints are “political” and that Sainz should “stay home and relax.”
“If he’s afraid, he can stay home and relax. I like Carlos a lot, but it’s like they’re trying to get attention for everything,” he said.
“Eighty per cent of the comments they make are political. Why are the drivers complaining that recharging is bad? Because Mercedes can do it better than everyone else.
“If they take advantage away from Mercedes, everyone else will be closer. Carlos is complaining because the Williams isn’t getting good starts. Why aren’t Mercedes complaining?”
Another to express doubt over the new rules is Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin had a double retirement in China, with Lance Stroll’s race ending early with a battery failure.
The team said “discomfort from vibrations” also forced Alonso to retire from the race, claiming he was losing feeling in his hands and his feet before climbing out of the car.
Former driver Juan Pablo Montoya. LightRocket via Getty Images
“Yeah, the starts are fun,” Alonso said after the Chinese Grand Prix. “Same as in Australia, the car seems to start really well.
“On lap one, it’s true that we all have the same level of battery, which is full. Then we enter in this battery world championship, and in that we are not as good as the others.
“Obviously, from Australia to China, we only had five days, so the engine was exactly the same as in Australia.
“Now we have two weeks, so we need more time [testing the engine] in the dyno.
“We need to give Honda more time to understand the vibrations and where they come from. And probably we fix the battery isolation, even though I think Lance [Stroll] had a problem also, so I don’t know exactly what was the problem.
“But yeah, all in all, we need to give Honda more time.”
McLaren has so far failed to match the pace of the Mercedes team, whose drivers have won both Grand Prix races and the sole sprint race under the new 2026 regulations, which put more emphasis on electrical power.
McLaren has said it’s concerned with what it considers a lack of information on how to get the best out of the Mercedes systems.