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Former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya believes Red Bull’s 2025 car isn’t as bad as people think, but Max Verstappen is nevertheless doing a brilliant job of extracting every ounce of performance from it.
All drivers who have driven the RB21 this year have described it as tricky to drive and handle, with even Verstappen complaining about its characteristics on several occasions.
Liam Lawson was demoted from the second Red Bull seat after just two rounds due to his inability to adapt to the car and while his replacement Yuki Tsunoda showed initial promise, the last few races have also been a struggle for him.
Tsunoda has scored just seven points since he moved up to Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix, while Verstappen has won two races and scored two further two podiums in the same period to establish himself as the closest rival to McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
The contrasting results between the two Red Bull drivers have led many onlookers to conclude that the RB21 is actually quite uncompetitive, with Verstappen’s incredible form down to his own talent than having a quick car underneath him.
While Montoya heaped praise on the Dutchman for his impressive results this year, he is convinced that Red Bull’s 2025 F1 car is also quite rapid despite its shortcomings.
“I don’t think the Red Bull car is as bad as people think it is,” the former McLaren and Williams racer told CasinoHawks.
“It’s a car that was built for Max. It’s a car that he can drive, which is not easy to drive, but the car does what he wants.
“You look at Lewis [Hamilton] driving the Ferrari and how he’s steering with the wheel, he’s not sure, he gets snappy.
“You never see Max getting snappy. You never see Max out of control. The only time this year that Max had a snap and he looked out of control was when they put the hard tyres on in Barcelona at the end of the race. And then his pace was poor.
“He was out of his comfort zone and he got rattled. Other than that, the car is being competitive. It drives very differently to what everybody else drives.
“Max is doing an amazing job. He’s an aggressive version of George [Russell]. George is a quieter guy. He’s a guy that doesn’t take as many risks, but speed-wise, you’ve got to say what George did in Canada with that Mercedes was amazing.”
While Verstappen was unable to put up much of a challenge to Mercedes rival George Russell in Canada, Montoya expects him and Red Bull to be a strong contender in the Austrian GP on 29 June.
The energy drinks giant has a strong track record at Spielberg, with Verstappen having won four out of the last seven on Red Bull’s home turf.
“I think Red Bull should be very strong in Austria because it’s the type of circuit where you need a bit of traction but it’s not crazy,” he said.
“You have a lot of flowing corners, a little bit like Japan, like long corners. And it’s the type of circuit where Red Bull can shine. Max is going to be really, really tough there again.”
